NBA suspends Rockets guard Marcus Smart 3 games for punching Bassey

The NBA suspended Houston Rockets guard Marcus Smart for three games without pay Thursday after he punched Golden State’s Charles Bassey in the face.

Smart will begin serving the suspension Friday when Houston hosts the Utah Jazz. He will also miss games at Washington on Sunday and Miami on Monday.

The league said Smart struck Bassey with 21 seconds left in the third quarter of Wednesday’s game at Toyota Center. Officials assessed Smart a flagrant foul 2 and ejected him. Houston won 115-108, ending Golden State’s eight-game winning streak.

Smart, a former NBA Defensive Player of the Year, is averaging 8.3 points in nine games in his first season with Houston.

File photo. Then with the Boston Celtics, Marcus Smart drives to the basket against Cleveland on Nov. 15, 2021. Erik Drost/Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0.