For one night, the schedule of NBA games had some fans thinking they had stumbled upon a series of UFC fights.
Several games across the NBA on Wednesday featured scuffles and cheap shots, most notably with Houston Rockets veteran guard Marcus Smart getting ejected after he threw a punch at Golden State Warriors center Charles Bassey.
In that same game, Warriors star guard Steph Curry was forced to exit in the first quarter after sustaining an injury. Although it is unclear exactly at what point Curry got injured, he got tangled up in an awkward arm lock with Rockets center Alperen Sengun before ultimately leaving the court with 6:25 left on the clock in the opening quarter.
Curry underwent an MRI after the game, and it revealed that he suffered a right oblique abdominal tear. He will be re-evaluated by Warriors team doctors in two weeks.
The Warriors, who had won eight games in a row before losing to Houston on Wednesday, will have to play at least their next seven games without their future Hall of Fame point guard.
Elsewhere in the NBA on Wednesday night, the physicality did not stop.
In Milwaukee, where the Bucks hosted the Los Angeles Lakers, Bucks guard Tyler Herro and Lakers forward Ziaire Williams had to be separated after a brief scuffle. Later in that matchup, Bucks guard Ryan Rollins incidentally headbutted Lakers guard Colin Sexton in the face.
The contact left both Rollins and Sexton bloodied, as the two NBA guards needed stitches after the game.
In a different incident, Denver Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic was elbowed in the groin by Memphis Grizzlies point guard Cam Spencer, who also appeared to hit the center on his backside as he was doubled over in pain from the groin shot.
Then, during a Brooklyn Nets victory over the Pelicans in New Orleans, Nets coaches had to run on the floor to keep players at bay during a fourth-quarter scuffle under the basket.
In a wild night of NBA fracases, Smart is likely to face the most harsh consequences, including a potential suspension, for throwing a punch at Bassey during Houston’s win over the Warriors. After the game, Bassey mocked Smart’s decision to swing at him.
“I think it was honestly fake toughness,” Bassey told reporters after the loss. “It didn’t surprise me. I knew he was going to do something. I [baited him] to do something, because I knew he was going to do something. I don’t think he was trying to play. I think he was trying to get himself out of the game.”
Highlights of most of Wednesday’s incidents described above can be seen in the video below.
