The Washington Wizards are taking the heavier blow after the NBA handed down punishments on Wednesday, related to an exhibition-game tussle at the United Center, to give a bitter-sweet taste to their 85-81 victory.

Rod Thorn, the NBA's president for basketball operations, announced the one-game suspension of DeJuan Blair, Nene, Daniel Orton and Xavier Silas, all from the Washington Wizards, for leaving the bench area during an altercation involving their teammate Paul Pierce in a preseason opener Monday, USA Today said.

The report explained that the players will have to serve the suspension on the first regular-season game the players are eligible and physically able to play.

This blow comes as the Wizards forward and Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah also face a $15,000 fine each, the latter for pushing the other in the chest and Pierce for responding with a poke to the other's forehead with his left index finger, the report added.

The incident transpired with 8:57 left in the first quarter, and Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau even had to throw himself between the two cagers to stop the event from turning more violent, the Bleacher Report said.

The report explained that the ruckus happened because Noah was upset after a foul Pierce did on Bulls guard Jimmy Butler. The Washington Post further noted that it happened as the referees were meeting at the scorers' table, deciding whether or not to make that foul flagrant.

According the rules of the league, players who leave the bench while any conflict is going on have to bear a one-game suspension, the Bleacher Report said. It quoted a tweet by Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel, which said the suspension could really test the team as they open the season against Miami Heat on Oct. 29.

"It's good for TV, I guess... I don't know what to say. It just happened. It's not scripted, but it just happened," Pierce told the Washington Post about the Monday scuffle.

"That wasn't a statement for just them! That was a statement for the league!" Blair told another Washington Post report.

He added: "You put a group of guys like us on the same team and we're going to feed off each other.... So I think we did a good job. Paul started it. We all here. It's all good. I told y'all we're the Bad Boys. Watch. Just watch, man."

Even coach Randy Wittman threw his support for the team's rough identity, the report said.

"You don't worry about what your identity is as long as you have one... And we'll find out what our identity is. It's when you don't have an identity is when you ought to be worried," the report quoted him as saying.

The game ended with 33 fouls on the Wizards, compared to the Bulls' 24, the Washington Post added.