Suns’ Jusuf Nurkic, Mavs’ Naji Marshall ejected for 3rd quarter fight

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 in an eventual 98-89 Suns loss:

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. Dallas’ PJ Washington was also thrown out for involvement in the scuffle to put the opposition down two starters with over 21 minutes left in the contest.

Nurkic had three points (1-of-4 from the floor), five rebounds, two assists and four turnovers in 14 minutes.

“I think that level of altercation is not good for our team,” Suns coach Mike Budenholzer said in his postgame conversation with the media. “You know, everyone’s got a lot of responsibility when we step on the court, myself as a coach, the players, our opponents. … We want to be our best in all situations.”

The NBA will be examining all the scrum details over the coming days to determine what fines or suspensions are necessary for each ejected player.

Kevin Durant, who led all scorers — and by a wide margin of 15 points — with 35, said he hates to see fights break out because of how severe the consequences can be.

“That’s what happens when you compete sometimes, tempers flare up a bit,” Durant said. “I understood what Dallas was thinking, their perspective, and being frustrated out there you do some things you may regret after the game. So, hopefully we can move on from it.”

Nurkic didn’t make any comments immediately following the home defeat.

At the time, Phoenix (15-15) was trailing Dallas (20-11) by 16 points (60-44) and closed the quarter with a 20-12 advantage to cut the deficit to eight. Continued cold offensive touch from key stars like Bradley Beal (1-for-4 in the fourth to finish 5-for-18) saw the Mavericks’ lead reach as high as 15 with 3:57 left in the game.

Durant’s solid night of 11-of-19 shooting (3-of-4 from three-point range) received little help, the only other double-digit scorers from the Suns being Royce O’Neale (14) and Beal (11). Phoenix was without Devin Booker for the fourth straight game.

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