The NBA Pre-Season intensity has spilled over to the actual season. The confrontation between Paul Pierce and Joakim Noah has resulted in suspensions to four players-all from the Washington Wizards!

The report from Yahoo Sports:

"The NBA announced Wednesday afternoon that four Wizards - starter Nene and reserves DeJuan Blair, Daniel Orton and Xavier Silas - have been suspended for one game for leaving the bench area during the "altercation" between new Wizard Paul Pierce and Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah in Monday night's preseason opener.

The big deal here is that these aren't preseason suspensions - they'll be served during the first regular-season game "for which each player is eligible and physically able to play." That means the Wiz will head into their regular-season opener on the road against the Miami Heat on Oct. 29 without their top two power forwards. That seems less than ideal.

Noah and Pierce - the guys actually involved in the 'altercation' - each received $15,000 fines, but no forced siestas. (Which, y'know, hardly seems fair.)"

The automatic suspension for leaving the bench is a staple rule in the NBA which is apparently implemented even in the offseason. But the contention is that there were also Chicago Bulls players who left the bench.

A tweet from Bullets Forever, a Washington Wizards blog shows the location of the four suspended players:

Here’s where the four suspended Wizards were during Monday’s altercation. https://t.co/VIhYKu3AJd pic.twitter.com/i6HOeh1cXh

— Bullets Forever (@BulletsForever) October 8, 2014

There are other photos from the Bullets Forever blog that sought to question the ruling by the NBA. NBA spokesman Tim Frank explained to Bullets Forever writer Mike Prada through email:  

"The Bulls players came onto the floor during the review and were already in proximity to where the altercation eventually occurred. The suspended Wizards players crossed the midcourt line, which was not a reasonable distance to be from the bench during a replay review." 

The Wizards successfully sent their message that they plan to be the Bad Boys, and the NBA responded by punishing them. The fact that the main protagonists will pay a hefty fine without suspensions seems odd.