Manning, Warriors’ Gatling Punished : Pro basketball: They are suspended for one game and fined for fight during Friday’s Clipper victory. Manning to miss Laker game tonight.

Calling it a “very dangerous situation,” the NBA on Saturday suspended Danny Manning of the Clippers and Chris Gatling of the Golden State Warriors for one game and fined both $7,500 for their fight the night before, an action that will keep Manning out of tonight’s game against the Lakers.

The suspension, the result of Friday’s third-quarter altercation at Oakland Coliseum Arena, will cost Manning, the Clippers’ leading scorer, another $31,707. Gatling, a starter for the Warriors since Chris Mullin suffered a thumb injury, sat out Saturday night’s game at Seattle as his penalty.

The scuffle began after the two 6-foot-10 forwards fought for position to rebound Ron Harper’s three-point shot. Gatling threw an elbow into Manning’s upper body, and Manning retaliated. When the two faced each other, Manning shoved Gatling in the chest.

Both players swung and landed punches. Though none did any damage, it was cause for automatic ejections, worth another $250 fine, and the suspensions.

“Our feeling after viewing the films was that it was a very dangerous situation,” said Rod Thorn, the NBA’s vice president for operations. “Several punches were thrown. It’s hard to assess blame as to who started what . . . Both had been banging each other pretty good even before that.”

Referee Jess Kersey and Clipper center Stanley Roberts were the first to separate the combatants along the baseline near the Warrior bench. Roberts grabbed Gatling while at the same time stiff-arming Manning to keep him away. Kersey fell as a result of his efforts.

“I commend Stanley Roberts,” Thorn said. “He was definitely a peacemaker.”

Additional fines will be coming Monday for several other players for leaving the bench. That is an automatic $500, even if they went onto the court with the intention of stopping the fracas.

The Clippers were leading at the time, 66-63, and eventually won, 106-98. Manning already had 20 points in 22 minutes while making all eight of his shots.

“Chris and I are both physical players and we want our team to win,” Manning said. “We got in kind of an entanglement and it went from there. It was no big deal.”

Gatling also downplayed the fracas, calling it a “heat of the moment thing.”

Loy Vaught will probably start in Manning’s place tonight at the Forum. Vaught has averaged 16 points and shot 63.6% in two appearances against the Lakers this season.