Rockets guard Jalen Green and forward Jae’Sean Tate have each been suspended one game without pay for leaving the bench area during an on-court altercation on Friday in Sacramento, the league announced today (via Twitter).
As we previously detailed, the skirmish began in the fourth quarter of Sacramento’s win over Houston when Kings guard Malik Monk took exception to a loose-ball foul committed by Rockets guard Garrison Mathews (Twitter video link via Bleacher Report).
Following an official review, referees ejected both Monk and Mathews, along with Kings big man Chimezie Metu, who was called an “escalator,” and Rockets forward Tari Eason, who was referred to as an “instigator,” according to Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee.
The players directly involved in the incident escaped without suspensions, though the NBA has fined Mathews $35K and Monk $25K. The league deemed Mathews to be the instigator of the altercation, but said Monk continued it, with both players taunting one another.
While Metu won’t face an additional penalty, Eason has been fined $30K for escalating the fracas and making inadvertent contact with a game official, per the NBA.
Green and Tate weren’t directly involved in the incident, but a player who is not already in the game and leaves the bench in a situation like this one automatically receives a one-game ban. Orlando, for instance, recently had eight players hit with one-game suspensions for doing the same thing during an altercation in Detroit.
Green and Tate will serve their suspensions on Sunday when the Rockets visit the Clippers. They’ll lose 1/145th of their full-season salaries, which works out to about $65K for Green and $49K for Tate.
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