Rockets guard Marcus Smart was ejected Wednesday night after throwing a right hook that grazed the nose of Golden State Warriors center Charles Bassey in Houston.
Smart did not wait for the official review, which ruled the contact a flagrant foul 2, an automatic ejection. He headed straight to the locker room after the punch.
The incident came in the third quarter. Rockets guard Amen Thompson barrelled to the rim for a transition bucket that lengthened Houston’s lead with 21 seconds left. In the aftermath, Smart and Bassey stood face to face, jawing at each other, while Warriors forward Yaxel Lendeborg tried to separate them. Smart then threw the punch as he stepped back to slip Bassey’s attempt to engage.
The contact happened directly in front of referee Mitchell Ervin. Thompson, along with Warriors players Gui Santos and Brandin Podziemski, moved quickly to separate the players, as did referee Brandon Adair. After reviewing the play, Ervin announced that Smart would be assessed a flagrant 2 for “contact to the nose” of Bassey.
Reactions from both sides
Rockets coach Ime Udoka said after the team’s 115-108 win that he had spoken to Smart, who told him that he and Bassey had got wrapped up and that his previously injured elbow had got bent.
“So he said something to him, and Bassey said, ‘What you gonna do?’ and he did it,” Udoka said.
Bassey said Smart had been playing dirty “the whole game” and described the punch as “fake toughness.”
“I remember the first half, I was trying to set a screen [and] he grabbed my knee. He was playing dirty,” Bassey said. “I think I was trying to get a rebound. He was grabbing my hand, and I was trying to run back on defence. Then he got up on me and just swung. Obviously, that was weak. I just think that was, honestly, fake toughness.”
“It didn’t surprise me. 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. I think he was trying to chill. He wasn’t trying to hoop. That was fake toughness.”
Smart’s night and season
Smart, 32, played 16 minutes before his ejection, finishing with six points, two rebounds and one assist.
The 12-year veteran joined Houston over the summer in free agency. He is averaging 8.6 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.1 steals over nine games, with one start.
Wednesday’s ejection was the 13th of Smart’s career and his first since the 2023-24 season, when he was with the Memphis Grizzlies.