Houston Rockets guard Marcus Smart was suspended three games without pay on Thursday for throwing a punch that struck Golden State Warriors center Charles Bassey. The NBA announced the Marcus Smart suspension a day after the incident in Houston’s 115-108 win over the Warriors on Wednesday.
Smart will miss Houston’s home game against the Utah Jazz on Friday, as well as road games against the Washington Wizards on Sunday and the Miami Heat on Monday.
What happened before the Marcus Smart suspension
Smart and Bassey became tangled under the basket following an Amen Thompson basket, and they exchanged words as they moved back up the floor. Smart was ejected with 21 seconds left in the third quarter after he threw a right hand that connected with Bassey’s face. Officials assessed Smart a flagrant foul 2 after reviewing the play. The Marcus Smart suspension was announced after the league reviewed the play.
Referee crew chief Mitchell Ervin said after the review that the foul was for contact to the nose. Warriors forwards Gui Santos and Yaxel Lendeborg separated the two players after the punch. Smart headed toward the locker room before officials finished reviewing the play, as ESPN’s Anthony Slater noted. Bassey was not penalized during the game and did not receive punishment on Thursday, and he was not injured. Smart finished with six points, two rebounds and one assist, while Bassey had seven points, six rebounds and a block. The flagrant 2 foul comes with an automatic ejection, which is then reviewed by the league office.
The games covered by the Marcus Smart suspension
Smart will begin serving the suspension on Friday at home against Utah, then miss the road games at Washington on Sunday and at Miami on Monday. All three opponents are below .500. Houston improved to 9-3 with Wednesday’s victory and entered Thursday third in the Western Conference.
Smart will be eligible to return after the Miami game on Monday, and the Rockets will have played three games in five days by then. Houston will play the first of the three games at home against Utah on Friday before it travels to Washington and Miami.
The Marcus Smart suspension leaves Houston short of a veteran guard for three games in five days, and the Rockets will need others to cover his minutes.
Smart’s first season with the Rockets
The Marcus Smart suspension comes in his first season with the Rockets, after he signed a two-year, $13 million deal in the offseason. Smart, a 12-year veteran, spent last season with the Los Angeles Lakers before he joined Houston in free agency. He is a former NBA Defensive Player of the Year.
Smart is averaging 8.3 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.0 assists over nine games this season, including one start, and he is shooting 43.9 percent from the field and 40 percent from three-point range. He missed three games last month due to a left forearm strain. The Marcus Smart suspension will cost him about $125,500 in salary, according to Sportsnet, and the Rockets will receive a tax variance credit worth $62,731, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks.
Two accounts of the clash behind the Marcus Smart suspension
Rockets coach Ime Udoka said afterward that Smart told him the confrontation began when Bassey bent his previously injured elbow as the players became tangled up. Udoka said, “So he said something to him, and Bassey said, ‘What you gonna do?’ and he did it.” The remark gave the fullest account yet of what Smart told his coach about the sequence.
Bassey was sharply critical of Smart after the game, accusing him of playing dirty earlier in the contest and calling the punch “fake toughness.” Smart, 32, joined Houston on a two-year, $13 million deal during the offseason after spending last season with the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Marcus Smart suspension was handed down by NBA executive vice president James Jones, who handles player discipline for the league.