By admin 
The NBA league office – including the chief disciplinarian, former Bad Boy Piston Joe Dumars – does not tolerate real fights.
It was no surprise when the competition came down hard on the players involved the battle between the Suns and Mavericks on Friday night. The penalties:
• Dallas’ Naji Marshall suspended four games without pay.
• Phoenix’s Jusuf Nurkic suspended three games without pay.
• Dallas’ PJ Washington suspended one game without pay.
That was all before this incident, which started when Nurkic was charged with an offensive foul for bulldozing Daniel Gafford. That’s when Marshall stepped in to stand up for his teammate. Nurkic punched/pushed Marshall in the face, and Marshall responded with a punch that appeared to graze Nurkic on the side of the face. Shortly afterwards, Washington intervened and pushed Nurkic to the ground. All three players were sent off.
The NBA said in announcing the penalties that Marshall “attempted to further attack Nurkić in a hostile manner in the hallway outside the locker rooms.” That would explain the extra play.
This suspension hits the Mavericks particularly hard because they are too without Luka Doncic for the next month due to a sprained calf.