- The Detroit Pistons lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves,123-104, on Sunday night.
- The game was marred by a brawl in the second quarter that saw five players and two coaches ejected.
- Malik Beasley led the Pistons with 27 points and Tim Hardaway Jr. added 20 points.
Emotions ran high as the Detroit Pistons tried to pull off their fourth-consecutive win without their franchise player.
J.B. Bickerstaff and three players — Isaiah Stewart, Ron Holland and Marcus Sasser — were ejected early in the second quarter after a shoving match broke out between Holland and Minnesota Timberwolves wing Donte DiVincenzo, who was also ejected with Naz Reid and assistant coach Pablo Prigioni.
After leading by as many as 16 in the first half, momentum then swung in the Wolves’ favor. The Pistons lost, 123-204, after shooting 35.6% in the second half.
They were outscored by 15 points in the third quarter and 10 points in the fourth. The loss snapped a three-game winning streak.
More: Detroit Pistons’ J.B. Bickerstaff’s NBA Coach of the Year résumé gets giant boost
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The Pistons’ magic number to clinch a playoffs spot remained at two after their loss and the Atlanta Hawks‘ victory over the Milwaukee Bucks.
The fight, which took place baseline under the rim, saw players and coaches from both teams leave the bench and reached fans who were sitting courtside. It left the Pistons, who already were without Cade Cunningham (left calf contusion) and Tobias Harris (right achilles tendon), even more shorthanded. It was Cunningham’s fourth-straight absence, and Harris’ second.
After leading by 16 late in the first quarter 34-18, the Wolves took control in the second half. The Pistons led from the 10:11 mark of the first quarter until 8:44 remained in the third, when a 3-pointer from Anthony Edwards, who scored 20 points in the period, gave the Wolves a 69-67 lead.
Malik Beasley led the Pistons with 27 points, Tim Hardaway Jr. finished with 20 and Jalen Duren scored 13 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Julius Randle led the Wolves with 26 points, Edwards had 25 and Rudy Gobert finished with 19 points and 25 rebounds.
Pistons lose steam after brawl
The fight had been brewing since the start of the second quarter. With 8:36 on the clock and the Pistons nursing a 36-26 lead, Holland confronted Reid after the latter appeared to scold him following a foul, pointing his finger in the rookie’s face.
DiVincenzo, who had a midair collision with Holland earlier in the period and had been exchanging trash talk with Stewart, came to Reid’s aid and put his hands on Holland. Holland instinctively shoved DiVincenzo’s hands off of him, and both players started shoving each other and fell to the floor.
Stewart and Sasser immediately confronted DiVincenzo, leading to a brawl as both teams moved to protect their own players. Stewart had already been called for a tech after lightly shoving Gobert earlier in the period. Bickerstaff and Prigioni also had words for each other in the middle of the scuffle, which led to their ejections.
It’s unclear if the situation will lead to any suspensions. Stewart already has one this season, receiving an automatic one-game suspension in January after a Flagrant-2 foul brought him over the threshold for flagrant foul points.
The Pistons have two more road games this week against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday and Toronto Raptors Friday before returning home to host the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday.
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