PHOENIX (AP) — Phoenix center Jusuf Nurkic and Dallas forwards Naji Marshall and P.J Washington were ejected following a brief fight between the players during the Mavericks' 98-89 victory over the Suns on Friday night.
Nurkic was called for an offensive foul while being guarded by Daniel Gafford with 9:02 left in the third quarter before the altercation quickly escalated. Nurkic confronted Marshall before taking an open-handed swing at his head and then Marshall responded with a punch. Washington quickly shoved Nurkic to the ground before the teams were separated.
“Just protecting each other — that’s what that was,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said. “Emotions can get high, so our guys protect one another. We talk about it and it was displayed tonight.”
Mavs guard Kyrie Irving agreed with his coach.
“Maybe that's just the way we end 2024, where somebody actually swings in the NBA," Irving said, joking with reporters. “Maybe that will help our ratings.”
The referees reviewed the play before deciding that all three players would be ejected.
“I think that level of altercation is not good for our team, it's not good for anybody individually, it's not good for our league," Suns coach Mike Budenholzer said. “I don't know all the details of what got it to that point."
The Mavs were already short-handed after losing star Luka Doncic to a calf injury on Christmas Day. Doncic is expected to miss about a month.
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David Brandt, The Associated Press
