Matt Barnes, John Henson Involved in on-Court Altercation: Comments, Reaction

Memphis Grizzlies swingman Matt Barnes and Milwaukee Bucks big man John Henson were involved in an altercation during Thursday night's clash at BMO Harris Bradley Center late in the fourth quarter.

After Henson rejected Barnes' shot and mean-mugged right in front of the notoriously fiery Grizzlies small forward, the two received technical fouls. Henson was ejected from Milwaukee's eventual 96-86 victory for receiving his second technical foul of the game, and Barnes appeared to chase him through the tunnel and back toward the locker room:

Citing sources, Gery Woelfel of Racine's Journal Times reported, "Barnes entered Bucks locker room after game looking for Henson," and added both players were escorted from the arena "by a spate of security guards." 

On Saturday, Barnes denied he followed Henson into the locker room, per Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times:

"

“I got led into the wrong room, so once I realized I wasn’t where I was supposed to be, I left and went into my locker room.”

[...]

“Maybe he was just scared. I don’t know why he was waiting. The situation happened on the court. He didn’t want it to spill over, I didn’t want it to spill over and they beat us.”

"

However, Dan Woike of the Orange County Register reported Barnes has been suspended for Saturday's game against the Los Angeles Clippers.

According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Matt Velazquez, Henson was "sporting a scrape on the right side of his face" during postgame interviews. However, Henson reportedly "downplayed" the scrape and moved on.

Barnes entered the night with seven technical fouls and zero ejections this season, according to ESPN.com, while Henson had just one foul of the technical variety to his name prior to Thursday's encounter. 

According to Spotrac, Barnes has paid $92,676 in fines this season alone—shelling out $35,000 of that gaudy total for comments deemed detrimental to the league. 

When discussing his reported offseason encounter with former New York Knicks head coach Derek Fisher, Barnes said, "Violence is never the answer, but sometimes it is," according to the New York Daily News' Stefan Bondy. "And unfortunately, it happened. I don’t regret it."