Friday was battle night between the Suns and Mavericks.
During the Mavericks' 98-89 win at Footprint Center, Phoenix center Jusuf Nurkic and Dallas wing forward/guard Nadji Marshall got into a fight and were ejected.
The situation came to a head early in the third quarter when Nurkic was called for an offensive foul and the Mavericks' Daniel Gafford fell to the floor in the paint.
Moments later, Nurkic and Marshall joined up, Nurkic slapped Marshall's noggin, and Marshall punched his opponent high.
PJ Washington also shoved Nurkic during this, causing him to fall near the center of the court.
Authorities then intervened to prevent the team from suffering any further damage.
In the end, all three players were ejected from the contest.
Suns manager Mike Budenholzer wasn't happy with how things were unfolding.
“I don't think that level of altercation is good for the team,” he said after the game. “It's not good for anyone and it's not good for our league.”
Mavericks coach Jason Kidd took a different view, saying he was happy with how his players defended themselves.
“They were protecting each other, that's what it was,” Kidd said. According to the Dallas Morning News. Emotions may run high. For our guys to protect each other, we talked about it and it showed tonight.
Suns rookie Ryan Dunn told reporters after the game that Nurkic and Marshall were talking to each other after the first offensive foul and before things got serious.
“I think it was just the heat of the moment. They were tingling back and forth,” Dunn said. “The heat of the moment when I came here in search of Nurk.”
Mr Dunn revealed why he was in de-escalation mode and did not seek to escalate the conflict further.
“I'm a new guy, so I don't have enough money to get a $5,000 fine,” he said with a laugh. “I can't pull any punches, but I'm just trying to defuse the tension.”
