Jazz big man Derrick Favors was fined $15,000 on Friday by the NBA for his role in an altercation with Denver’s Mason Plumlee during Wednesday’s 114-108 victory over the Nuggets.
Plumlee was fined $25,000, and Nuggets star Nikola Jokic was suspended for Denver’s game Friday night against the Phoenix Suns for leaving the bench area during the incident.
The penalties were announced by Kiki VanDeWeghe, the NBA’s Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.
With 2:46 left in the first quarter Wednesday, Favors and Plumlee became tangled up beneath the basket in front of Denver’s bench. Words were exchanged between the two, and then some shoving ensued, though no punches were thrown.
After an official review, both Favors and Plumlee were ejected, and the Jazz’s Royce O’Neale and the Nuggets' Will Barton were assessed technical fouls.
Jokic, who was not in the game at the time, got off the Nuggets' bench and took several steps down the baseline toward the area where players had intervened between Favors and Plumlee. He was not punished during the game.
VanDeWeghe said Friday that Jokic’s “close proximity to the altercation and aggressive manner created the potential for further escalation of the situation.”
