NBA suspends Rockets guard Marcus Smart for three games after punch on Warriors' Charles Bassey
Houston guard Marcus Smart received a three-game suspension without pay after delivering a punch that struck Warriors center Charles Bassey during a March game.
The NBA announced on Thursday that Houston Rockets guard Marcus Smart will miss the next three games without pay after he threw a punch that made contact with Golden State Warriors center Charles Bassey’s face in the third quarter of the Rockets’ 115-108 victory. The league said the suspension will apply to Houston’s upcoming contests against the Utah Jazz, Washington Wizards and Miami Heat.
Smart was assessed a flagrant-2 foul and ejected from the game after the incident, which occurred less than a minute before the end of the third quarter. He finished with six points, two rebounds and one assist. Under NBA rules, a player who throws a punch is automatically ejected and faces a minimum one-game suspension, in addition to a fine for the flagrant foul.
Rockets coach Ime Udoka said the confrontation followed a rebound scramble in which Bassey wrapped Smart’s elbow, prompting Bassey to ask, “what are you gonna do,” after which Smart threw the punch. Bassey later described Smart’s actions as “playing dirty” and suggested the guard was trying to get ejected.
Despite Smart’s ejection, the Rockets held on for the win, while Warriors star Stephen Curry missed much of the game after sustaining an oblique tear early in the contest.