The inter-conference showdown on Friday saw the Miami Heat outplay the New Orleans Pelicans in a 106-95 victory. However, it was not without some on-court drama. Early in the first quarter, Miami’s Kevin Love fouled Pelicans’ Zion Williamson, causing him to fall and hit in the head on the deck. Pels forward, Naji Marshall took umbrage and confronted Love, prompting Jimmy Butler to intervene. The next thing we know, Marshall is grabbing Butler’s neck. Just when the situation was de-escalating, another brawl broke out on the sidelines between Thomas Bryant, Jose Alvarado, and forward Nikola Jović. As a result, Butler, Bryant, Marshall, and Alvarado were all ejected and missed the rest of the fourth quarter.

The league announced Sunday that Butler would serve a one-game suspension without pay for “instigating and engaging in an on-court altercation,” losing nearly $260,000 in base salary. However, the Miami Heat were surprised that Butler even got suspended, with coach Erik Spoelstra indicating that the ejection should have sufficed. However, the league’s accusations were backed by Shams Charania on the recent episode of FanDuel’s Run It Back.

Charania said, “Jimmy Butler, yeah, that suspension is really the most normal one in all of this. As opposed to Spoelstra and Heat, I think they were surprised that Jimmy Butler got suspended. Jimmy Butler to me, there was a lot of defense being played by him. And he was really just going to bat at the end.”

Butler was not the only player who was disciplined by the league. Marshall and Jovic were also issued a one-game suspension apiece. In addition, the league sanctioned a three-game suspension for Bryant and Alvarado each for “leaving the bench area and entering an on-court altercation.” However, this was not the only fight that took place Friday night.

The unwritten rule drama

The Golden State Warriors swept the Charlotte Hornets this Friday evening in a game that was largely uneventful until the final moments when a scuffle erupted. With just 12 seconds remaining in the game and two seconds left on the shot clock, Golden State guard Lester Quinones attempted a layup that was blocked by Hornets’ wing Miles Bridges. However, the block was later deemed goaltending. Bridges took issue with Quinones’ decision to try to score despite the Warriors holding a comfortable 13-point lead. He believed Quinones was violating an unwritten basketball rule that suggests players should hold the ball rather than run up the score out of respect for the losing team.

Bridges then responded aggressively, shoving Quinones twice, sparking a heated altercation. Grant Williams came to his teammates’ defense and was ejected for escalating the situation. Quinones, in turn, received two technical fouls for his interactions with Williams and Bridges, resulting in an automatic ejection. Additionally, officials assessed a technical foul on Bridges.

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