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Jan. 24 (UPI) -- The NBA suspended guard Grayson Allen for one game without pay for a hard foul on guard Alex Caruso in the third quarter of a Milwaukee Bucks win over the Chicago Bulls, the league announced. NBA president of league operations Byron Spruell said Sunday in a news release that Allen's contact was "unnecessary and excessive."
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The foul occurred with 5:45 remaining in the third quarter Friday in Milwaukee. Allen was assessed with a Flagrant Foul 2 and ejected. Caruso sustained a broken right wrist as a result of the play.
Bulls guard Coby White started the play with a steal on the right flank. White dribbled up the court and threw a pass back to Caruso, who ran into the lane. Caruso went up to shoot and Allen jumped into the same area.
Allen then used both hands to pull Caruso down. The Bulls guard hit the floor hard and was in obvious pain. He did not return after the fall.
Allen scored five points and totaled three assists in 20:23 minutes. Caruso totaled seven points, eight rebounds and four assists in 23:34.
The Bucks said in a statement that they "disagree" with the suspension. Allen will serve his suspension when the Bucks face the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday in Cleveland.
"We support Grayson and look forward to him rejoining our team for Friday's game versus New York," the Bucks said.
Allen addressed the situation Sunday on his Discord channel. He said he "reached out" and apologized to Caruso on Sunday morning.
"It was very unfortunate how it played out," Allen wrote. "I jumped to block it with my left and as I'm spinning went to grab the ball with my right hand not throw him down.
"It was a really hard fall and I'm glad he's okay. If I could do the play over again knowing he'd fall like that I wouldn't make the play."
The Bulls announced Caruso's injury on Saturday. He will be re-evaluated in six to eight weeks.
Allen, 26, is averaged a career-high 11.8 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game through his first 41 games this season. The Bucks acquired the No. 21 overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft in an Aug. 7 trade with the Memphis Grizzlies.
Caruso, 27, is averaging 8.4 points with a career-high 3.9 rebound and 3.9 assists per game this season. He joined the Bulls in August as a free agent.
The Bulls (28-17) face the Oklahoma City Thunder (14-32) at 8 p.m. EST Monday at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City. Bucks (30-19) battle the Cavaliers (28-19) at 7 p.m. EST Wednesday at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.
