Mavericks forward Marquese Chriss followed Suns center Bismack Biyombo off the court and into the tunnel after the two players were ejected near the end of Phoenix’s Game 5 win on Tuesday night, as Dave McMenamin of ESPN details.
With the Suns up by 28 and just seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, Biyombo went up for a dunk and was fouled hard by Chriss (video link). The two big men exchanged words and had to be separated, as referees assessed technical fouls to both players and immediately ejected them from the game.
When Biyombo exited through the tunnel toward the Suns’ locker room, Chriss followed him instead of heading into the tunnel on the opposite side of the court. As McMenamin writes, several members of the teams’ security staffs – along with Mavs center Boban Marjanovic – ran after the two players.
Chriss and Biyombo were separated by the Suns’ security team before any physical contact was made, according to TNT sideline reporter Allie LaForce (Twitter link). Chriss was then escorted back through the tunnel and toward the opposite end of the court.
“I get the competitiveness of the game, but we’re just trying to win the game,” Suns coach Monty Williams said during his postgame media session, per McMenamin. “All the stuff that happens that’s extra-curricular, I don’t have anything to say about that. I understand how chippy it can be. We just want to win the game and that’s it. We’re trying to get one more win, and that’s our focus right now.”
While the confrontation didn’t come to blows, it seems likely the NBA will review the incident — it’s possible one or both players could face a fine.
The Suns lead the series 3-2 heading into Game 6 on Thursday in Dallas.
If that was a “hard” foul by Chriss, then grandpa Joe will be the front runner to win the 2022 USA Memory Championship.
I’ve seen girls push each other more rigorous in elementary school.
Do you work at an elementary school?
That’s quite an incoherent question, grandpa.
Nah, he just hangs around outside. You know, “observing”. LOL!
Go away.
Yikes! I’d forgotten ALL about that Memory Championship thang!
Love, Uncle Joe
PS: a) up 28 with 3 seconds you take the pass and move away from the iron. b) a guy goes to dunk with 3 seconds and you’re down 28 you turn away and ignore him.
PPS: You’ll bring my reading glasses to MEM CHAMP 22, right Grandson? ;)
Maybe Chriss fights better than he plays basketball…
Its garbage time so I don’t understand why anyone would play hard defense when only thing that matters is time for the clock to run out.
Because Biyombo went up for a dunk with 2.5 seconds left in the 4th while they were up by almost 30. Broke the unwritten rule that a lot of players believe in.
To be fair Breezy we are all kinda lost on the codes w/out Stevie in the building
If you don’t want people to dunk on you to go up 30 pts with 2 seconds left you shouldn’t let yourself get down by 28 pts with 2 seconds left.
Sure miss the old nba and days of guys getting knocked on their ass regularly
I’ve watched the NBA for close to 35 years and the parts I miss from the good old days are the beautiful post play of players like Hakeem, Ewing and McHale, the clean gamesmanship of players like Bird and Pippen and the beautiful passing of Stockton, Magic and KJ. I’m thankful that the days of constant hard fouls that were pretty much straight up assault from players like Lambier and Rodman are long gone.