The Thunder dominated the Bulls on Monday night in Oklahoma City, but the otherwise uneventful contest did feature a fight sparked by Kris Dunn pushing Russell Westbrook near the Thunder bench.
Jerami Grant stepped in for his star guard and ended up wrestling briefly with Robin Lopez near the first row before being separated. Technicals were handed out to the main combatants and the game went on, with Lopez being tossed shortly after for dropping the ball on Grant after a foul call.
Unsurprisingly, the NBA has handed down fines for Lopez, Grant, and Dunn for their roles in the incident. Lopez has been fined $25,000, Grant fined $20,000, and Dunn fined $15,000 for instigating the whole ordeal. However, they are not the only players getting punished for the incident, as the Thunder are going to be extremely thin at the point guard position against the Kings on Wednesday night because Dennis Schröder and Raymond Felton are both suspended for one game for leaving the bench area.
The leaving the bench rule has worked in keeping incidents from building to all out brawls between teams, but when an incident occurs near a team’s bench it always brings the possibility of players reacting and getting up near the scuffle into play. In this instance, the Thunder found themselves penalized for the scuffle more heavily than the Bulls due to the proximity to the bench and their two reserve point guards not ensuring they stayed within the bench area.
