Serge Ibaka served with one-game suspension

It’s been the talk of the NBA town for most of the day, but now we finally have our answer as to how many games Serge Ibaka (and Robin Lopez) will miss for his role in the fracas during the third quarter of Toronto’s game against the Bulls.

Turns out: only one game!

For context, you can re-watch the entire incident here:

Since there hasn’t been any recent precedent for fights with punches thrown in an NBA game, many were unsure of how many games Ibaka would miss as penalty. The one-game deal was on the low end, with others predicting as many as five.

This outcome of this is extremely positive to the Raptors (and, sure, the Bulls too, but screw’em). Toronto is battling to gain ground in the Eastern Conference without their best player, and to lose Ibaka for any extended time definitely would not have helped. It’s clear the Raptors have dodged a, uh, punch.

Ibaka will sit for tomorrow’s game in Miami against the Heat and then rejoin the team for Saturday’s rematch against the Mavericks. All is right with the world. Carry on.