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Tempers flared during a recent pair of NBA games, and both contests were marred by tense clashes between players.
Tuesday’s Suns–Nets game featured five technical fouls when New Orleans Pelicans rookie Jeremiah Fears and veteran Thunder player Lu Dort were separated in the second half. A shove by Dort appeared to spark a scuffle that cleared the benches at the end of the Thunder’s 104-95 win.
Officials did not call a foul after Dort made contact with Fears during a layup attempt. Players and coaches from both teams quickly joined the fracas to try and separate Dort and Fears.
After the game, Fears took to social media, where he labeled Dort “soft.”
Thunder coach Mark Daigneault placed blame on the officials, arguing they failed to maintain control of the situation before it escalated.
“Good guys, good crew, but I thought they lost control of the game in the final minutes,” Daigneault told reporters at his postgame news conference. “I thought that altercation at the end started well before that with the [Saddiq Bey and Jaylin Williams] situation. I thought they could have managed that cleaner.”
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Daigneault also expressed his belief that Dort should have been called for a foul during the play, arguing the score should not affect whether referees blow the whistle.
“The second thing is, I think that’s a foul on Dort. And if it was, they should put a whistle on that play regardless of the score and the time, because if they do that, everybody stops playing, and you can legislate the situation as you normally would. But because they didn’t put a whistle on it, it’s the end of the game. They can do nothing about it, and you end up with that situation.”
Roughly an hour after the Thunder–Pelicans game concluded, a separate incident broke out in the Suns–Nets game.
With less than two minutes left in the close game, Nets guard Egor Dëmin pushed Suns forward Dillon Brooks to the floor. A chaotic scene ensued, with players and coaches leaving the benches and referees assessing a total of five technical fouls. Earlier in the game, Brooks was called for a technical foul after he shoved Dëmin.
Brooks’ technical foul for the earlier incident was his 15th of the season. He is one away from triggering an automatic one-game suspension.
After the game, Nets coach Jordi Fernández voiced support for the players who intervened on behalf of their teammate, Dëmin.
“Those are just guys protecting each other and fighting for each other,” Fernández said. “I think they did a great job. You’re never going to let any of your teammates get hit or pushed or anything.
“Obviously, there’s boundaries, and we don’t want anybody to get hurt here. But you’ve seen a few dirty plays, and they didn’t call it. I think it got out of hand because of that. I like my guys sticking up for each other.”
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