The NBA found itself this week in the same predicament it was in almost a year ago and had decisions to make on punishments for an early-season scuffle.



In October 2018, during Lakers’ opening night in Los Angeles, Rajon Rondo and Brandon Ingram got into an altercation with the Rockets’ Chris Paul that involved punches thrown. Paul was suspended two games, Ingram four and Rondo got three games for his actions, which appeared to include spitting on Paul.



On Wednesday night, the NBA needed to judge and rule on the physical altercation between Philadelphia star Joel Embiid and Minnesota star Karl-Anthony Towns in the 76ers’ win over the Timberwolves. The Athletic’s Michael Lee was in Philadelphia and provided this account of the incident. The next 20 hours consisted of everyone deciphering video from the fight — while the NBA went through numerous amounts of investigatory interviews and footage.



The situation, and the discipline...