P.J. Washington was also involved, shoving Nurkic during the melee. Nurkic, Marshall and Washington were ejected after the scuffle. After the game, a few Mavericks took a similar tone while discussing the matter, playing up the theme of protecting each other’s teammates.

With 9:02 remaining in the third period, Suns center Jusuf Nurkic received the ball in the post and, as he was backing down Mavericks big man Daniel Gafford, extended his arm and made contact with Gafford's face,