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NEW YORK -- NBA scoring leader Carmelo Anthony was suspended for 15 games Monday -- the sixth longest in league history for an on-court incident -- and six other players were penalized as commissioner David Stern came down hard on both teams after the Nuggets and Knicks brawled at Madison Square Garden.
Nate Robinson and J.R. Smith each got 10 games, and four other players also were suspended. Stern fined each organization $500,000. But there was no separate penalty for Knicks coach Isiah Thomas, which drew the ire of Denver coach George Karl. It was Thomas who had warned Anthony not to go into the lane before the mayhem started Saturday night.
It was the NBA's scariest scene since the brawl between Pacers players and Pistons fans two years ago. The league is still recovering from that episode, and Stern made it clear the players must learn to control themselves.
"We're going to go after the players who aren't able to stop," he said during a conference call. "We have set up the goal of eliminating fighting from our game. We haven't eliminated it completely."
Mardy Collins, whose hard foul on Smith sparked the fighting, was suspended six games and Knicks teammate Jared Jeffries will miss four. Also, the Knicks' Jerome James and Denver's Nene were both penalized one game for leaving the bench area during the chaos.
Nuggets, Knicks Suspensions
DENVER
Player Games
Carmelo Anthony 15
Eligible to return: Jan. 20 at Houston
J.R. Smith 10
Eligible to return: Jan. 8 vs. Milwaukee
Nene 1
Eligible to return: Dec. 20 vs. Milwaukee
NEW YORK
Player Games
Nate Robinson 10
Eligible to return: Jan. 10 vs. Phila.
Mardy Collins 6
Eligible to return: Dec. 31 at Clippers
Jared Jeffries 4
Eligible to return: Dec. 27 vs. Detroit
Jerome James 1
Eligible to return: Dec. 20 vs. Charlotte
Per the NBA Collective Bargaining Agreement, Anthony has the right to attempt to get his 15-game suspension lessened through arbitration because it is longer than 12 games. So far, Anthony hasn't announced whether he will try to do this. Regardless, Anthony's suspension begins immediately, starting with Monday night's home game with the Wizards.
For example, after the Pacers-Pistons brawl, an arbitrator lessened Jermaine O'Neal's suspension from 25 to 15 games.
Ten players were ejected after Saturday night's fight, which started with 1:15 left in Denver's 123-100 victory. It was the NBA's scariest scene since the brawl between Pacers players and Pistons fans in Detroit two years ago.
The punishments were announced before both teams were to play Monday night -- New York at home against Utah; Denver at home against Washington.
"I was very disappointed," Stern said. "Clearly, we're not getting through or players in certain circumstances just don't want to be restrained. I would suggest that those players will not have long careers in the NBA."
Stern was especially troubled by the fight between Robinson and Smith that spilled into the stands.
"My concern is actually for the safety of the players and the fans, and when things get out of hand you cannot predict or project where they're going to go," Stern said. "There were certain players who weren't going to allow themselves to be calmed."
There was speculation Thomas would be penalized for his comments to Anthony. Stern acknowledged hearing about it, but said he relied only on "definitive information" when handing out punishments.
But he was clearly annoyed by remarks from Thomas and the Knicks after the game that the problems were caused by the Nuggets still having four starters on the floor late in a blowout. And the fine showed he wants teams to be serious in helping him clean up the game.
"It's a more general message that I'm going to start holding our teams accountable," he said.
In Denver, Karl was irate with Thomas, who said Monday that Karl put his players in danger by leaving them on the floor too long. Karl accused Thomas of a "premeditated" act, underscoring his disgust with the New York coach with expletives.
"It was directed by Isiah," he said during a shootaround. "I think his actions after the game were despicable. He made a bad situation worse. I'll swear on my children's life that I never thought about running up the score. I wanted to get a big win on the road."
"My team has had trouble holding leads at the end of games," he added. "I didn't want the score to get under 10 points because if it would've gotten under 10 points it would've had a negative feeling on my team."
Collins prevented Smith from an easy basket by grabbing him by the neck and taking him to the floor. Smith rose and immediately started jawing with Collins, and Robinson jumped in to pull Smith away. Anthony shoved Robinson away, and Robinson and Smith then tumbled into the front row while fighting.
Just as things appeared to be calming down, Anthony threw a hard punch that floored Collins, and New York's Jared Jeffries sprinted from the baseline toward halfcourt in an effort to get at Anthony, but was tackled by a Denver player.
By the time security had finally contained Smith, they were nearly at the opposite end of the court from where the fighting started.
"I was very disappointed," Stern said. "Clearly, we're not getting through or players in certain circumstances just don't want to be restrained. I would suggest that those players will not have long careers in the NBA."
Stern also made it clear he was annoyed by comments from Thomas and the Knicks that the problems were caused by the Nuggets still having four starters on the floor late in a blowout. The commissioner said the only response is to say "nothing, or B, this is not something of which we can be proud or condone. That's not what we're about and that's not the example that we're setting."
Information from The Associated Press and ESPN.com's Marc Stein was used in this report.
