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TORONTO, March 21 (Xinhua) -- Raptors forward Serge Ibaka and Bulls center Robin Lopez were ejected in the third quarter of the Tuesday night game where Toronto ultimately won 122-120 in overtime.
At the 3:58 mark of the third frame after a Jimmy Butler three-pointer, Lopez and Ibaka were tangled up while Ibaka went to pick up the ball to inbound. Lopez violently stripped the ball out of Ibaka's hands, causing an altercation between the two.
Before teammates and coaches could separate the duo, Lopez threw a right hand punch that just missed Ibaka. The Raptors forward retaliated with a right hand of his own that clipped Lopez's left ear. As a result of the incident, both players were ejected from the game.
Lopez believes that his initial punch was an attempt to move Ibaka away while coaches, teammates, and officials were trying to contain the situation.
"It seemed like I had three guys on me, I was being pulled back and I'm not sure what was going on the other end but it felt like nobody had any hold on him (Ibaka)," explained Lopez after the game. "He just kept coming at me; I was just trying to get him off me," he added.
Ibaka believes that frustration was the cause for Lopez's action.
"What happened is he was playing physical basketball and he got frustrated. We started to push each other and then he threw the punch," Ibaka said following the team's win. "Like a man I had to defend myself. I'm not just going to be out there and watch a man like him punch me and walk away," he said.
Since 2006, fighting has been almost non-existent in the NBA.
"Not anymore. It's too expensive," said Raptors head coach Dwane Casey on the frequency of fighting in the league.
The most recent game involving a fight occurred on Dec. 2006 at Madison Square Garden between Nuggets and Knicks which resulted in seven players being suspended a total of 47 games. Players forfeited more than 1.2 million U.S. dollars in salaries and teams were fined half a million dollars each.
Two years prior to that, the Pistons and Pacers were involved in a large brawl involving players and local Detroit fans on Nov. 2004. This incident saw nine players suspended for a combined 146 games and lose 11.5 million U.S. dollars in salaries.
Ibaka expects a suspension but believes that his opponent should get a harsher penalty for instigating the incident.
"I want to play basketball and do not (want to) get suspended, but the fact is that he punched me first," said the 27-year-old native of Congo. "I just hope the league will do their job. I know it is basketball and sometimes it gets physical and we talk trash and push each other. But punching like that, there's no room for that," he opinioned.
