Warriors center Charles Bassey kept his hands down when Marcus Smart swung at him.
The Houston Rockets guard will now sit for three games after the NBA suspended him Thursday for throwing a punch that made contact with the Golden State Warriors center’s face.
The incident came with 21 seconds left in the third quarter of Houston’s 115-108 win over Golden State. Smart and Bassey got tangled up during a possession, then continued jawing as they ran back up the floor.
Smart turned and threw a punch that grazed Bassey’s nose. Officials assessed a Flagrant 2, and Smart walked off before they announced the ejection.
Bassey said afterward that Smart had been playing dirty throughout the game and dismissed the punch as “fake toughness.”
Rockets coach Ime Udoka offered Smart’s version: the guard said Bassey had bent an elbow he had injured earlier in the season. Udoka said Bassey then challenged Smart, who responded with the swing.
The league’s decision draws a line under the altercation, but it won’t change the result for Golden State. Bassey did not retaliate, and the confrontation ended without a larger fight or additional ejections.
Smart will miss Houston’s games against the Utah Jazz on Friday, the Washington Wizards on Sunday and the Miami Heat on Monday. He is averaging 8.3 points, 2.6 rebounds and two assists in nine games as a reserve for the Rockets.
It was already a costly night for the Warriors: Stephen Curry left in the first quarter with right abdominal soreness, and Golden State’s eight-game winning streak ended with the defeat.
Bassey’s composure kept the incident from compounding the loss in the moment; Smart’s suspension means he will watch Houston’s next three games from the sidelines.
