March 16 (UPI) -- Phoenix Suns forward Marquese Chriss prompted a scuffle after delivering a cheap shot to Ricky Rubio during a 116-88 loss to the Utah Jazz.
The unsportsmanlike conduct occurred with about seven minutes remaining in the third quarter of Thursday's game at Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah. Suns sharpshooter Devin Booker dribbled down the court before throwing a pass to Chriss.
Chriss then went in for a huge dunk, but fell short and landed on the floor. Frustration boiled over on the next possession when Suns forward Jared Dudley drove his body into Ricky Rubio as he dribbled down the court.
Rubio got back onto his feet and was confronting Dudley when Chriss came from his blindside and pushed him to the floor. Rubio's mouthpiece bounced down the court after the hard hit. Both teams joined in the melee before being separated by officials and coaches.
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Chriss and Dudley were both booted from the game.
After the game, Rubio told reporters he wasn't "going to talk about the fight with anybody."
"This is the problem, because part of it for our team is when these things happen -- and they happen multiple times -- it becomes cumulative for us," Jazz coach Quin Snyder told reporters in his postgame news conference.
"So another team, they move on to the next game. And then we play the next time. It happens to us again, with a different team. And then it happens to us again with another team. There is a point where you stop recognizing that it's a different team. It just keeps happening. Our point guard has been leveled, knocked to the ground...two times in one possession tonight."
"And you know, guys are going to have each other's backs. And where that goes, when it gets like that, you never know what happens. And it just -- you know, but it's cumulative."
Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell scored a game-high 23 points and had six rebounds and four assists in the loss. Small forward T.J. Warren led the Suns with 19 points.
Chriss had four points and four rebounds in 14 minutes. Dudley scored six points in nine minutes. Rubio scored 12 points and had a game-high 11 assists in the victory.
