Friday’s game between the Miami Heat and New Orleans Pelicans was feistier than expected, as a fracas between Jimmy Butler and Naji Marshall sparked a fight — with Jose Alvarado and Thomas Bryant getting into it to further escalate things — in what eventually became a Miami win.
Unsurprisingly, the NBA handed down a number of suspensions as additional punishment for Miami and New Orleans’ edition of Friday Night Fights, with Butler and Marshall each being given a one-game suspension for their actions, with Alvarado and Bryant being given three games each for escalating things by coming off of the bench and fighting. Nikola Jovic also got a game for leaving the bench area.
The following was released by the NBA: pic.twitter.com/K8eRIlqm7t
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) February 25, 2024
The suspensions all follow what the NBA has done over the last two decades to try and curb physical altercations on the court, as the players involved get a punishment but the bigger punishment always comes for anyone that escalates things further. That has been the case for years as the NBA never wants a fight to turn into an all-out brawl, and for the most part players learn that lesson quickly once they miss game checks for leaving the bench. Alvarado and Bryant not only left the bench but also escalated things by fighting themselves, which tacked on two extra games to their suspensions.
