Rockets’ Marcus Smart Slammed With Brutal NBA Punishment

The sequence began with 21 seconds left in the third quarter when Smart and Bassey tangled while fighting for position. Smart later said his previously injured elbow got bent in the contact.

Rockets coach Ime Udoka spoke with Smart after the game and relayed the exchange this way: “Bassey said, ‘What you gonna do?’ And he did it.” Officials reviewed the play and ruled it a flagrant foul 2.

Referee crew chief Mitchell Ervin described the contact as “contact to the nose,” which brought an automatic ejection. Smart walked off the floor before the announcement was finished.

Bassey did not retaliate on the court. Afterward he told reporters, “I just think that, honestly, that was fake toughness.”

League rules state that any player who throws a punch faces at least a one-game suspension, with the commissioner able to add further penalty. The three-game ban goes beyond that minimum and keeps Smart out of Friday’s home game against the Utah Jazz.

He will also miss Sunday’s road game at Washington and Monday’s road game at Miami. Smart finished Wednesday with six points on two-of-two shooting along with two rebounds and one assist in 17 minutes.

The 32-year-old is in his first season with Houston and has averaged roughly eight points while coming off the bench. The Rockets will lean on younger guards such as Reed Sheppard for additional minutes during his absence.

This is not Smart’s first brush with league discipline. He received a one-game suspension in 2015 for a below-the-belt hit on Matt Bonner and another one-game ban in 2021 for directing threatening language at an official.

He has also been fined on numerous occasions, including a $50,000 penalty in 2019 after shoving Joel Embiid. The Rockets have not publicly commented beyond Udoka’s postgame remarks.

Missing a proven defender for three contests forces coach Ime Udoka to adjust rotations as the team navigates conference games and NBA Cup matchups. The decision stands as the latest example of the league enforcing its rules against acts it views as outside the bounds of competitive basketball.