Jusuf Nurkic and Tyler Herro were ejected after they got into a physical altercation during Wednesday night’s game, and the NBA has handed down equal punishment for both players.
Nurkic and Herro have been fined $25,000 each, the NBA announced on Friday. Many felt Nurkic should have faced a bigger penalty than Herro since the Portland Trail Blazers star threw a swing. However, the league’s statement noted that Herro “initiated the altercation” after Nurkic knocked him to the court on a basketball play.
Full NBA statement on the fines assessed to Portland’s Nurkic and Miami’s Herro “for their roles in an on-court altercation.” https://t.co/EZu6OmRJMD pic.twitter.com/1VoEYIiuwh
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) January 7, 2022
You can see the scrum below:
Nurkic swung on Herro 😳
Blazers-Heat getting chippy https://t.co/joVa5cwopk
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 6, 2022
The screen from Nurkic looked clean, which is likely why the NBA felt Herro was equally responsible for the altercation. Had Herro not gotten up and shoved Nurkic, the whole incident would have been avoided.
Nurkic and Herro were both assessed technical fouls and ejected with less than a minute remaining. The Miami Heat defeated Portland 115-109.
