It didn’t take even three minutes into Friday’s second half for trouble to manifest itself in the budding rivalry between the Phoenix Suns and Dallas Mavericks.
With 9:02 remaining in the third quarter, Suns center Jusuf Nurkic was whistled for an offensive foul after backing down Mavericks forward Daniel Gafford. Fellow Dallas teammate Naji Marshall didn’t take kindly to Nurkic seemingly plastering Gafford with an elbow and decided to give the big man an ear full.
Nurkic shoved Marshall’s head and that’s when tempers started to flare:
Nurkic and Naji Marshall get into a scuffle! pic.twitter.com/axKepcupWY
— Cage (@ridiculouscage) December 28, 2024
Marshall initially pushed Nurkic but quickly took a swipe at his face with a closed fist, and Nurkic responded in kind. Though neither made real contact, surrounding teammates had to separate the two. Suns rookie Ryan Dunn pulled the 10-year veteran away from the mess while Marshall was taken back to the Mavericks’ bench by referees and an assistant coach.
Both players were awarded double technical fouls and ejected from the game.
Nurkic had three points (1-of-4 from the floor), five rebounds, two assists and four turnovers in 14 minutes.
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At the time, Phoenix (15-14) was trailing Dallas (19-11) by 16 points (60-44) but closed the quarter with a 20-12 advantage to cut the deficit to eight.
Kevin Durant led the Suns with 28 points (8-of-16 shooting) through the first three periods. Phoenix was without Devin Booker for the fourth straight game.
Follow the rest of Suns-Mavericks on 98.7, Arizona Sports.com and the Arizona Sports app.
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