Bulls have Robin Lopez’s back in wake of his suspension

Robin Lopez knew punishment was coming and he was right.

The center was nailed with a one-game suspension without pay for his altercation with Raptors forward Serge Ibaka on Tuesday night in Toronto. He served the suspension Wednesday against the visiting Pistons.

“I think you ask anybody in that locker room, Robin Lopez is one of the most, if not the most, popular guys on this team,’’ coach Fred Hoiberg said. “He’s a guy who goes out and approaches his job the same way every day. He goes to work. He never complains. He does what’s asked of him. Also if you asked them, they’d tell you he’s as passionate of a guy as we have on this team as well.

“He’s got a fire to him that you just don’t ever want to take away. This game gets very competitive obviously, it gets heated at times. That happened [Tuesday] night. It’s unfortunate what went down, but we’ve all got Robin’s back.’’

But Hoiberg also said that the suspension was warranted, “based on what the rule is.’’

The incident took place with 3:58 remaining in the third quarter when Lopez and Ibaka had words after a Jimmy Butler three-pointer. Lopez took a swipe at the basketball, knocking it out of Ibaka’s hand, and it quickly escalated into each player throwing a haymaker before being separated.

Neither punch connected, but both players were ejected.

“It seemed like I had three guys on me and I was being pulled back,’’ Lopez said of why he threw the punch. “And I’m not sure what was going on with him. But it felt like nobody had any hold on him. He just kept coming at me with his arm. I was just trying to get him off me.’’

Not only were Lopez and Ibaka suspended, but also the league fined Raptors assistant coach Jamaal Magloire $15,000 for pushing Bulls forward Nikola Mirotic in the wake of the dustup.

And while no one was blaming Lopez for what he did, the timing of the fight couldn’t have been worse.

Not only did it leave the Bulls without their starting center Wednesday, but backup Cristiano Felicio was also unavailable because of a lower-back bruise suffered against the Raptors.

That meant that Joffrey Lauvergne got the start in the middle against the Pistons, with Bobby Portis serving as his backup.

Lopez is scheduled to work out at the Advocate Center on Thursday before returning to the starting lineup against the visiting 76ers on Friday.

The Payne plan

Point guard Cameron Payne, who was acquired in the trade with Oklahoma City last month, was recalled from the D-League and back in uniform Wednesday.

Hoiberg said there is still no plan as far as his minutes or his place in the rotation, especially with Rajon Rondo emerging as the starting point again.

Coincidentally, the Bulls are 6-9 since sending Taj Gibson and Doug McDermott to the Thunder.

The Thunder are 10-5 since the trade.

Follow me on Twitter

@suntimes_hoops.

Email: jcowley@suntimes.com