Marcus Smart Receives Harsh Punishment After Wednesday's Altercation

HOUSTON — The NBA suspended Rockets guard Marcus Smart for three games without pay for throwing a punch that made contact with the face of Warriors center Charles Bassey during Wednesday night’s game.

Smart will miss the Rockets home game on Friday against the Utah Jazz and road games against the Washington Wizards on Sunday and Miami Heat on Monday.

Smart and Bassey became entangled with 21 seconds left in the third quarter of Wednesday’s 115-108 Rockets win. Smart threw a punch with his right hand before Warriors forwards Gui Santos and Yaxel Lendeborg separated the two players. Smart was assessed a flagrant-2 and ejected.

Bassey was not penalized during the game and did not receive punishment on Thursday.

“Marcus said they got wrapped up, and his elbow that he had hurt got bent up,” Rockets head coach Ime Udoka said after the game. “(Smart) said something to him. Bassey said, ‘What you gonna do?’ and (Smart) did it.”

Nov 2, 2026; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Rockets guard Marcus Smart (36) walks off the court after the game against the Boston Celtics at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Smart missed three games last month due to a left forearm strain. He was not made available to reporters after the game, but Bassey spoke to the media and claimed Smart had been playing dirty throughout the game.

“I don’t think he was trying to play,” Bassey said. “I think he was trying to get himself out of the game. If he was trying to play, he wouldn’t have done that. I think he was trying to chill, he wasn’t trying to hoop. That was fake toughness.”

Smart, a three-time All-Defense selection and 2022 Defensive Player of the Year, is averaging 8.3 points and 2.6 rebounds per game in his first season with the Rockets, while shooting 44% from the field and 40% from behind the three-point line. He signed a two-year, $12.4 million contract with the team in July.

Reed Sheppard and Bogdan Bogdanovic should see an increase in playing time with Smart unavailable. Sheppard scored 13 points in 20 minutes off the bench on Wednesday and is one of six Rockets averaging at least 10 points per game.

Shorthanded at Guard

Rockets starting point guard Fred VanVleet has not played in back-to-backs after returning from the knee injury that cost him all of last season, so the Rockets will likely be without their top two point guards for Sunday or Monday’s game.

Signed to a one-year, minimum contract over the summer, Bogdanovic is averaging 4.8 points while appearing in every game this season. He has been held scoreless in 4 of 5 November games and did not attempt a shot against the Warriors on Wednesday.

The Rockets are currently 9-3, good for third place in the Western Conference. They will take on a Jazz team Friday night that is 1-11 and on a 10-game losing streak.

The Warriors and Rockets will next meet on Dec. 30 in San Francisco.

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