Mavericks fans demand justice as NBA hands out harsh suspensions from Suns brawl

It took just over two months for Dallas Mavericks fans to fall in love with Naji Marshall.

After Jusuf Nurkic was called for an offensive foul for an elbow to the head of Daniel Gafford in Dallas' win over the Phoenix Suns on Friday night, there was chirping among the Mavericks players and Nurkic.

Nurkic walked over as the instigator and slapped Marshall across the face. Marshall came back and swung a punch at Nurkic's head, and it hit Nurkic's ear. Both teams then had to be separated by officials and coaches from the wild scuffle that had just happened.

NBA's leniency towards Suns, harshness towards Mavs sparks outrage

The NBA handed out suspensions for players involved in the fight on Friday, and the NBA's ruling already has Mavs fans outraged. It was announced that Nurkic would be suspended for three games, Marshall suspended for four games, and P.J. Washington was suspended for one game for shoving Nurkic.

Even as the instigator of the scuffle, Nurkic was suspended for fewer games than Marshall which is definitely drawing instant reaction from fans and members of the media alike.

Mavs fans will go back last year to when Marshall got into a scuffle against Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat. Recent history might have played a role in Marshall getting a harsher suspension than Nurkic.

As for Washington, he only pushed Nurkic out of the pile and didn't really deserve to get tossed in the first place. It seemed like Nurkic's momentum from his teammate grabbing him from behind was the reason why he went down compared to Washington's shove.

In a letter from the NBA, they say that Marshall engaged "in a hostile manner" against Nurkic outside the locker room which was widely unknown until this afternoon. This could've been the main reason for Marshall getting a bigger punishment than Nurkic.

In today's NBA, it was apparent that there would be multiple game suspensions, especially with Phoenix and Dallas developing a renewed rivalry since 2022. With Nurkic causing the foul and the feud, Mavs fans and others are not happy to hear that Marshall was punished more than Nurkic.

Before the season, we mentioned how the Mavericks are fortunate to have the group they have with multiple enforcers.

Washington's epic troll job against the LA Clippers showed how tough this Maverick team can be, and he has embraced the role of being one of the enforcers on the team and bringing energy and physicality.

The suspension came at one of the worst times as Marshall was supposed to be one of the guys to step up following Doncic's injury.

The good news for the Mavericks is that they recently put on a whooping at home against the Portland Trail Blazers, and they'll still have plenty of depth to hopefully secure a win tonight.

Maxi Kleber had his best game of the season by far with 15 points and seven rebounds on Friday night, and Dallas will need another big game out of him tonight against Portland since Washington will serve his one-game suspension. He made some phenomenal plays on the defensive end and will be forced to pick up the slack that is left with Washington not able to play. Dwight Powell will likely get some increased minutes as well with Dereck Lively II dealing with a left hip contusion.

Overall, the NBA's suspensions from the scuffle with the Suns were extremely unfair on Dallas' end, with the worst part of the ruling being that Washington was suspended for one game. Jason Kidd is going to have his hands full tonight when it comes to rotations, but Dallas has the depth and focus to get the job done.