Minnesota won the match with 123–104 on Sunday, but it was the brawl that made the headlines.
The emotions overflowed a bit into the second quarter, when Detroit's Ron Holland II committed a defensive foul in a duel with Minnesota's Naz Reid. Soon, three more players were involved in the brawl, which partly took place in the stands.
All five players were given technical fouls and were not allowed to continue playing in the match. Detroit's coach J.B. Bickerstaff and Minnesota's assistant coach Pablo Prigioni were also ejected from the game.
The NBA takes the incident seriously and is suspending the players. Detroit's Isaiah Stewart is hit the hardest, missing the next two games and also receiving a fine.
Ron Holland II and Marcus Sasser in Detroit will miss one game. Naz Reid and Donte DiVincenzo in Minnesota receive the same penalty.
Of course, things got out of hand, but what you see is guys looking out for each other, guys trying to protect each other, guys trying to take each other's backs, said Bickerstaff to AP after the game.
