In the waning minutes of Wednesday night's game between the Portland Trail Blazers and the Miami Heat, Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic and Heat guard Tyler Herro got into a heated exchange that turned physical.
With only a minute left in the fourth quarter, Nurkic set a hard pick on Herro, knocking him down hard to the floor. Herro--obviously not liking this, bounced back on his feet very quickly and decided to push the 7-footer behind his back. Nurkic responded by throwing a punch at Herro which invoked both teams to intervene in an attempt to separate the two. Referees also held the players back.
The NBA has yet to respond on the incident or whether Herro or Nurkic will be disciplined.
Heat guard Kyle Lowry was also ejected in the first half after two technicals.
Both teams were without their stars with Jimmy Butler being sidelined with an ankle injury and Damian Lillard dealing with lower abdominal tendinopathy.
Herro finished with 16 points, five rebounds and three assists off the bench, but struggled from the field shooting 5-for-23, and was 2-for-9 from three.
Nurkic recorded 14 points and 13 rebounds to go with two steals, a block and a single assist in the 115-109 loss.
Funny enough, a video of Herro showing of his boxing skills went viral on social media over the summer. What would've happened had the players squared off? You can be the judge of that.
Follow Jasper Jones on Twitter: @jonesj2342
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