The NBA handed down punishments for the skirmish that took place between the Miami Heat and New Orleans Pelicans Friday night. Jimmy Butler, Naji Marshall and Nikola Jovic are all suspended for one game, the league announced Sunday, while Jose Alvarado and Thomas Bryant were each given three-game suspensions.
The altercation happened during the fourth quarter of a physical Heat win Friday night. Zion Williamson came away with a steal on Butler, and as he was driving to the rim Kevin Love wrapped him up, causing the Pelicans star to fall to the ground. Immediately, Williamson's teammates came to his defense, with Marshall giving Love a little shove before Butler responded by pushing Marshall. That caused the two to shove each other a couple times before Marshall grabbed Butler by the neck. That escalated the situation as Butler tried to chase Marshall down before players and coaches from both sides stepped in to resolve the dust up.
Getting chippy in NOLA 👀@PelicansNBA | #Pelicans | @BallySports 📺 pic.twitter.com/vdc4Cvymz6
— Bally Sports New Orleans (@BallySportsNO) February 24, 2024
As that was getting diffused, Alvarado and Bryant were at the scorer's table exchanging words, which then turned into Bryant seemingly throwing punches at Alvarado. That set off another scrum where players and coaches were trying to break up the situation, as Alvarado was trying to climb onto the scorer's table to get at Bryant.
Jose and Thomas Bryant get into it. Jose even tried to climb the scorers table pic.twitter.com/blMgQGR2lT
— Pelicans Film Room (@PelsFilmRoom) February 24, 2024
After officials reviewed the entire situation, double technicals for Butler, Marshall, Alvarado and Bryant were awarded, which led to all four getting ejected from the game. The league said in the statement that Butler and Marshall were suspended for "instigating and engaging" in the altercation, while Alvarado and Bryant were suspended for not only leaving the bench area -- as neither were in the game at the time -- but also for fighting. Both of those coupled together likely led to the heavier penalties for them. As for Jovic, while he wasn't directly involved in the physical contact, he came onto the court from Miami's bench area, which per NBA rules is an automatic suspension when an altercation breaks out.
All five players will begin to serve their suspensions with their respective team's next game, with Alvarado and Marshall sitting out the Pelicans game against the Chicago Buller Sunday night. Butler, Bryant and Jovic will start their suspensions Monday night when the Heat play the Sacramento Kings.
