WATCH: Wild Brawl Between Pistons and Timberwolves Spills Into the Stands, 7 Ejected
Seven people were ejected from Sunday’s game between the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Detroit Pistons after a brawl broke out between the teams.
With about nine minutes left in the second quarter, Timberwolves guard Donte DiVincenzo was called for an offensive foul when he barreled into Pistons forward Simone Fontecchio. As DiVincenzo was helped up by a teammate, Pistons power forward Isaiah Stewart shoved him. Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert approached Stewart, but the two were separated before anything happened. Stewart was given a technical foul for the incident, and play resumed after Timberwolves guard Mike Conley shot the technical free throw.
On the Timberwolves’ next offensive possession, Wolves forward Naz Reid was fouled by Pistons forward Ron Holland while driving to the basket. Reid took exception to the foul and immediately got in Holland’s face to tell him about it. DiVincenzo tried to move Holland away in an effort to break up the altercation, but Holland aggressively shoved him in response. That prompted a retaliatory push from DiVincenzo before the two began wrestling with one another. Multiple members of both teams quickly joined as the pile of players gradually moved multiple rows into the stands.
Then — as noted by FanDuel Sports Network analyst Jim Petersen — the coaches started going at it.
“The coaches are getting into it!” he said. “The coaches are literally fighting with each other now, too! [Pistons head coach] J.B. Bickerstaff getting into it [Timberwolves assistant coach] Pablo Prigioni. I mean, this is ridiculous! And they’re both wearing black, so you can’t tell who is who. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before, [announcer Michael Grady]. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a big melee like this and have the coaches both getting into fights, as well. This is crazy!”
Five players were ejected from the game — Reid, DiVincenzo, Holland, Stewart, and Pistons guard Marcus Sasser. Bickerstaff and Prigioni were also tossed.
Watch above via FanDuel Sports Network