The NBA has suspended Rockets guard Marcus Smart three games without pay for throwing a punch that made contact with Warriors center Charles Bassey’s face, the league announced Thursday.
The incident occurred with 21 seconds remaining in the third quarter of Houston’s 115-108 home win Wednesday.
Smart and Bassey became tangled under the basket and exchanged words before Smart threw a right-handed punch. The players were quickly separated, and Bassey was not injured.
Smart headed toward the locker room before officials finished reviewing the play, as ESPN’s Anthony Slater noted. He was assessed a flagrant foul 2 and ejected.
Bassey had plenty to say afterward, accusing Smart of playing dirty throughout the game and describing the confrontation as “fake toughness.”
“He’s been playing dirty the whole game, man,” Bassey told reporters. “I remember in the first half, I was trying to set a screen, and bro, he grabbed my knees.”
Bassey also questioned Smart’s intentions during the altercation.
“I think he was trying to chill; he wasn’t trying to hoop, bro,” he said. “Like I said, bro, fake toughness.”
Smart finished with six points, two rebounds and one assist. Bassey had seven points, six rebounds and a block.
More: Charles Bassey calls Marcus Smart ‘dirty,’ blasts ‘fake toughness’ after punch
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