Marcus Smart. Image via: youngamechanger/ Instagram
They came back with a Flagrant 2 on Smart. A Flagrant 1 would have brought the same two free throws and possession for the offended team, but Smart would have stayed in the game. The Flagrant 2 added the ejection. A Flagrant 2 settles the penalty inside the game and does not automatically bring a suspension.
So Golden State got two free throws and the ball, while Houston lost its guard on the same play.
“You didn’t even need to tell him, he knew he was gone,” Burke said during the broadcast. Officials went to the NBA Replay Center in Secaucus, New Jersey, to look at the clash between Marcus Smart and Charles Bassey. The call covers contact judged unnecessary and excessive. Smart did not wait for the verdict. He was already off the floor while officials sorted it out, and ESPN analyst Doris Burke had no doubt how it would end. Bassey stayed in the game, so the penalty landed on the Rockets guard alone. The play also put Bassey in an odd spot. He was part of the exchange yet stayed in the game, and Golden State kept its center on the floor for the rest of the night. One call was enough. Another technical or flagrant foul was never needed. Any further discipline would be a separate league decision.
It happened with 21 seconds left in the third quarter, right after Amen Thompson scored on a three-point play in transition. Houston Rockets guard Marcus Smart was ejected from Wednesday night’s game against the Golden State Warriors after throwing a punch at Warriors center Charles Bassey. Houston was ahead at the time. Smart and Bassey went face-to-face at the top of the key, and his right hand seemed to fall just short of Bassey’s face. The two were pulled apart. Smart stormed off to the locker room, and officials eventually ruled him out.