The Phoenix Suns will be without their starting center in Monday night’s game against the Washington Wizards.
Center Mark Williams has been suspended one game for the altercation that took place in New Orleans on Saturday night. Jose Alvarado (the initiator) is suspended for two games. They were each ejected from the game following the heated exchange of elbows and fists.
Williams was essentially defending himself from Alvarado and didn’t initiate any swings until he was swung at. There was some light shoving back and forth prior, but it was ultimately escalated by Alvarado, which is why he received two games.
It’s no surprise that Jose Alvarado was part of the scuffle, as his history with Phoenix has been filled with some heated moments in plenty of losses.
Looking back at this, it looks more like Williams was trying to block the punches thrown by Alvarado rather than engage in an all-out brawl. What is he supposed to do, just sit there and allow someone to swing at him?
The Williams suspension feels like the NBA trying to make a statement that they won’t put up with any form of fighting, removing context from the situation at hand. New Orleans did not miss Alvarado after he was ejected, and Phoenix sure did miss Williams. That was likely in part of why he started the whole thing.
Either way, these types of interactions are far more likely to occur when you get the same opponent in back-to-back nights.
Expect Oso Ighodaro to start in place of Mark Williams for the game against Washington.
