The NBA has suspended Raptors forward Serge Ibaka and Bulls center Robin Lopez one game apiece for their roles in Tuesday night’s on-court incident in Toronto, per a press release. Lopez will miss Chicago’s game tonight against the Pistons, while Ibaka will sit out the Raptors’ game on Thursday night in Miami.
During the third quarter of Tuesday night’s game between the Raptors and Bulls, Lopez and Ibaka got into an altercation that escalated into a near-fistfight. Both players threw punches, though Lopez missed hitting Ibaka, and Ibaka’s blow just grazed Lopez.
Although the fight could have been worse, it’s still a bit of a surprise that both players received just one-game bans. There was speculation that Ibaka could get a two- or three-game suspension and that Lopez could get an extra game on top of taht for throwing the first punch. Instead, both players received relatively light punishments, though they’ll lose a game’s worth of pay as they serve their respective suspensions.
Raptors assistant Jamaal Magloire was also penalized as a result of the altercation, having been fined $15K for pushing Bulls forward Nikola Mirotic, the league announced.
This was a strange, crazy play. I think Lopez kind of lost his balance and stumbled backwards into Ibaka.
Serge threw a little elbow and Lopez should have shrugged It off as a misinterpretation of his stumbling.
But no, Lopez turned around and started tussling. Maybe there was something earlier in the game that had both players on edge and ready for the slightest opportunity to go after it. Perhaps they have a history.
That’s crap I saw the game Lopez just missed Ibaka chin ge threw the first lunch and what was Ibaka suppose to do run away like a bitxh he maned up and threw one back. This is no part of the game but Lopez should get at least another game imo
The best part of this is seeing that Jamaal Magloire is still involved in the NBA
atleast somebody on the bulls has some heart left.