P.J. Washington was also involved, shoving Nurkic during the melee. Nurkic, Marshall and Washington were ejected after the scuffle. After the game, a few Mavericks took a similar tone while discussing the matter, playing up the theme of protecting each other’s teammates.

Specifically, Suns center Jusuf Nurkic and Mavs wing Naji Marshall threw actual blows. Well, Nurkic's was more of a slap, though it still far exceeded the standard of what we refer to as a "fight" in NBA parlance.

The Phoenix Suns (15-15) were handed a 98-89 loss by the Dallas Mavericks (20-11) at the Footprint Center on Friday.

The Phoenix Suns are coming off a positive win after a couple of losses. Fans are curios if Kevin Durant is available against the Mavericks.

The Phoenix Suns (15-14) host the Dallas Mavericks (19-11) on Friday, airing on Arizona's Family (Ch. 3 TV) at 7 p.m. This is the first of back-to-back games for both teams, and the second of their three-game season series.