Tempers Flare Across NBA as Thunder-Pelicans, Suns-Nets End in Chaos
Tuesday night in the NBA gave us more than just final scores-it gave us fireworks. Two separate games saw tensions boil over into full-blown scuffles, with emotions running high and whistles flying late.
Let’s start in Oklahoma City, where the Thunder wrapped up a 104-95 win over the New Orleans Pelicans. But the real story came after the final buzzer.
With the game already decided, Pelicans rookie Jeremiah Fears took the ball to the rack for a layup as time expired. Thunder wing Lu Dort wasn’t having it-he met Fears at the rim with contact that many felt should’ve been called a foul.
Instead of a whistle, it sparked a melee.
Dort’s shove ignited a confrontation that quickly escalated. Fears and Dort went chest to chest, and within seconds, players and coaches from both benches flooded the court trying to separate the two. The buzzer had sounded, but the drama was just beginning.
Postgame, Fears didn’t hold back, taking to Instagram to call Dort “soft.” It was a bold move from the rookie, and one that’s sure to keep this matchup circled on the calendar the next time these two teams meet.
Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault didn’t mince words either. He pointed fingers at the officiating crew for letting things spiral in the closing minutes.
“Good guys, good crew,” Daigneault said, “but I thought they lost control of the game in the final minutes. 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.”
Daigneault also questioned the no-call on Dort’s final play. “I think that’s a foul on Dort,” he added.
“And if it was, they should put a whistle on that play regardless of the score and the time. Because if they do, everybody stops playing and you can legislate the situation as you normally would.
But because they didn’t, it’s the end of the game, they can do nothing about it, and you end up with that situation.”
The dust had barely settled before another storm hit-this time in Phoenix.
With just over a minute left and the Suns clinging to a 104-102 lead over the Brooklyn Nets, things got heated during a scramble for a loose ball. Suns forward Dillon Brooks was tugging at the ball after the whistle when Nets guard Egor Dëmin had enough and shoved Brooks to the floor. That shove lit the fuse.
Players from both sides jumped in, and assistant coaches rushed in from the benches to keep things from exploding further. Officials went to the monitor and handed out five technical fouls in total: Dëmin, Terance Mann and Michael Porter Jr. for the Nets, and Grayson Allen and Royce O’Neal for the Suns.
It was a boiling point that had been simmering for a while. Earlier in the game, Brooks had shoved Dëmin and was hit with a technical foul-his 15th of the season. That puts him one away from an automatic one-game suspension, a line Brooks has flirted with more than once in his career.
Nets head coach Jordi Fernández backed his players’ response, saying they were simply standing up for one another.
“Those are just guys protecting each other and fighting for each other,” Fernández said. “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.”
Two games. Two scuffles.
Ten technicals. And a reminder that in the NBA, the final buzzer doesn’t always mean the action is over.
Whether it’s a rookie trying to make a statement or a veteran pushing the edge, the league continues to walk a fine line between competitive fire and losing control. Tuesday night showed just how thin that line can be.