Two Miami heat players have received one-game suspensions for their role in the altercation that went down in Miami's 112-109 win against the Toronto Raptors on Saturday night. Caleb Martin was involved in a physical altercation with Raptors rookie Christian Koloko, and the NBA has penalized both players, as well as Heat rookie Nikola Jovic for his role in the fracas.
Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra has now spoken out about the controversial incident, and the four-time NBA champion shot-caller admitted that the team was not at all surprised by the suspensions (via NBA reporter Tim Bontemps of ESPN):
Erik Spoelstra says the Heat had no issue with the suspension of either Caleb Martin or Nikola Jovic. He said both were expected, and that the focus now turns to being ready for a challenge tonight against Toronto.
In a heated moment during the game, Martin gave Koloko his welcome to the NBA moment via a UFC-like takedown on the baseline. The Raptors youngster clearly did not appreciate the act of violence, and as expected, a bit of chaos ensued:
Caleb Martin gots the Culture DNA π₯π₯π₯ pic.twitter.com/XNu3dK4RZ9
β ππͺπ¨π πΌπππ€π£ππ¨ β’ (@AIR305) October 23, 2022
Martin was slapped with a one-game suspension for his tackle, while Koloko was fined $15,000 for grabbing Martin during the altercation. That's a lot of money for a second-round draft pick on a rookie-scale deal. For his part, Heat power forward Nikola Jovic has also been suspended for one game for leaving the bench during the incident.
As coach Spo said, however, Miami has no intention of challenging the NBA's decision to suspend two of its players. They clearly knew the sanctions were coming.
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