Either way though, we’re splitting hairs – both plays were dirty af, and I agree that the NBA should’ve suspended both of them for more than just a single game.

And re: Morris/Jokic/Allen, Jokic’s was the only one that was a dead ball. Morris was committing a foul to stop a fast break–and threw a cheap shot while doing it. Allen was contesting a shot at the rim–and took an extra swipe to throw an airborne player to the floor dangerously.

Jokic wasn’t playing basketball when he hit Morris. That feels important.

I’d agree with dhpat that I would have given Allen 5 games. I also would have given Jokic 5 games at the time. I’m cool with the two incidents, despite being different, being gagued as roughly equal. One is a reckless/dirty play, the other is a violent non-basketball play. I don’t love the idea of handing out more/longer suspensions generally but I do think legislating high-injury-risk plays out of the game is something that defenses should be able to adapt to.