The NBA on Thursday suspended Houston Rockets guard Marcus Smart three games without pay for throwing a punch at Golden State Warriors center Charles Bassey.
Smart grazed Bassey's nose with a right hook during a confrontation late in the third quarter of Houston's 115-108 home win Wednesday night. Smart was assessed a flagrant foul 2 and ejected.
Smart will miss games Friday at home against the Utah Jazz, Sunday at the Washington Wizards and Monday at the Miami Heat.
The 12-year veteran joined Houston over the summer in free agency, and is averaging 8.6 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.1 steals over nine games with one start.
The Rockets are 9-3 and in third place in the Western Conference entering play Thursday.
Smart and Bassey engaged in the third quarter Wednesday night after Rockets guard Amen Thompson barreled to the rim for a transition bucket that lengthened Houston's lead with 21 seconds left. In the aftermath of the play, Smart and Bassey stood face to face jawing as Warriors forward Yaxel Lendeborg attempted to separate them.
Smart threw a right hook that grazed Bassey's nose as he stepped back to slip the punch. The incident took place right in front of referee Mitchell Ervin. Thompson and Golden State's Gui Santos and Brandin Podziemski quickly intervened to separate the players along with referee Brandon Adair.
Rockets coach Ime Udoka said after the game that he spoke to Smart, who said he and Bassey got wrapped up and his previously injured elbow got bent.
"So he said something to him, and Bassey said, 'What you gonna do?' and he did it," Udoka said.
Bassey said Smart was playing dirty "the whole game" and called the punch "fake toughness."
"I remember the first half, I was trying to set a screen [and] he grabbed my knee. He was playing dirty," Bassey said. "I think I was trying to get a rebound. He was grabbing my hand, and I was trying to run back on defense. Then he got up on me and just swung. Obviously, that was weak. I just think that was, honestly, fake toughness.
"It didn't surprise me. I knew he was going to do something. I don't think he was trying to play. I think he was trying to get himself out of the game. I think he was trying to chill. He wasn't trying to hoop. That was fake toughness."