Cavaliers forward Marquese Chriss was suspended one game and Raptors center/forward Serge Ibaka was docked three games by the NBA on Tuesday for a fight that prompted their ejections during the Cavs' 25-point victory Monday night at Quicken Loans Arena.
The league release said the length of Ibaka's suspension was based on him instigating the physical altercation, throwing a punch and his prior history of fighting during games, while Chriss was penalized for throwing a punch.
Ibaka, 29, has been ejected eight times in his 10-year career, while Chriss, 21, has been ejected three times.
Chriss will serve his suspension in Tuesday night's game at Philadelphia, while Ibaka's will begin Thursday against the Lakers.
The Cavs led 91-77 with one second remaining in the third quarter when Norman Powell threw a length-of-the-court inbounds pass to Ibaka. Ibaka fell as the ball sailed out of bounds and Chriss threw up his hands, apparently trying to show there had been no shove and that Ibaka had flopped. Chriss then said something to Ibaka as he walked by him on the floor.
Ibaka jumped up, grabbed Chriss around the neck from behind and pinned Chriss against the stanchion and punched at him, although he missed. Chriss's punch connected.
Neither player spoke to the media after the game, but Ibaka said through a Raptors spokesman that Chriss's comment set him off.
Asked what Chriss should have done, Cavs coach Larry Drew said, "I don't condone fighting at all, but I think if somebody comes at you, you have the right to defend yourself. I have to go back and look at the tape to see exactly what happened, but I don't believe there's a place in our game for fighting. But in the heat of the moment I understand that things do happen. If you get in a situation where clearly you're being attacked, your natural instinct is going to be to defend yourself."
Asked if he was concerned Ibaka may be suspended for multiple games, Raptors coach Nick Nurse said Monday, "It's always going to be concerning. We don't certainly want that in the game. It's going to cost him a game, probably, right? It usually does when there's an altercation like that and ... we don't want to lose one of our guys for incidents like that."
The Raptors' third-leading scorer, Ibaka was traded to Toronto on Feb. 14, 2017 and saw the Cavs end his postseason run the past two years with sweeps in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
