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In the third quarter of what ended up being a 115-108 victory for the Houston Rockets, Marcus Smart got into a heated moment with Golden State Warriors big man Charles Bassey. The two got tangled up when the Warriors had possession, and the two exchanged barbs. Something irked Smart to the point where he ran full speed, gave Bassey a shove, and uncorked a punch that got him immediately ejected from the game.

That was a legitimate swing from Smart, who then had to be separated from Bassey by two Warriors players, Gui Santos and Yaxel Lendeborg. The officials had no choice but to remove him from the game by calling a flagrant foul penalty two on the Rockets guard.

After the game, Rockets head coach Ime Udoka revealed what Smart told him regarding the altercation and what drove the veteran guard to launch a blow towards the Warriors big man.

“Marcus said they got wrapped up and his elbow, that he had hurt, got bent up. So he said something to Bassey and Bassey said, ‘Whatcha gonna do?’ and he did it,” Udoka said, per Adam Wexler of SportsTalk 790.

Smart has endured his fair share of injury problems over the past few seasons, so his caution with regards to his physical well-being is justified. The Rockets guard simply got goaded into making a poor decision.

Considering that Smart actually landed a punch on Bassey, the NBA will most likely hand out a suspension to the Rockets guard. The league suspended Jose Alvarado, back when he was with the New Orleans Pelicans, for two games without pay after he landed a punch on Phoenix Suns center Mark Williams’ chin. Perhaps Smart would receive the same punishment.

Before getting himself ejected, Smart put up six points and one assist in 17 minutes of play.

The post The tense exchange that triggered Rockets vet Marcus Smart to punch Charles Bassey appeared first on ClutchPoints.