Jusuf Nurkic

Today at 11:10 PM

For all the posturing and swing-and-misses seen in NBA fights, sometimes they can be pretty real.

The Phoenix Suns and Dallas Mavericks proved that point on Friday night when a scuffle broke out between the two sides that led to a trio of ejections.

Early in the third quarter, Suns centre Jusuf Nurkic was whistled for an offensive foul after elbowing Daniel Gafford in the post. Initially walking down to the other end of the floor following the call, the Bosnian big man appeared to take exception to something said and turned back towards a crowd of Mavericks players.

And within a second of Nurkic being face-to-face with Naji Marshall, things reached a boiling point. Nurkic struck Marshall across the face, to which the Dallas forward responded with a right hook that would’ve made UFC president Dana White proud.

P.J. Washington then got in on the action as he shoved Nurkic from behind amid the chaos. Once things settled down and the situation was reviewed, all three were given technical fouls and ejected for their involvement in the incident.

Both teams already entered the day down some stars as Phoenix was without Devin Booker while Dallas was missing Luka Doncic. It’s safe to say both head coaches probably weren’t happy to lose a couple more key contributors.

Meanwhile, Friday wasn’t the first time Nurkic was involved in a physical altercation, as nearly a year ago he was famously on the receiving end of a Draymond Green head strike that led to the Golden State Warriors’ big man missing 12 games due to suspension.

The Mavericks were leading 60-44 at the time of the fight. No further punishment has been announced by either team or the league at this time.