A matchup between the two worst teams in the Eastern Conference isn’t one that’s going to get fans from around the world to tune in and catch the action. Well, the Pistons and Magic went out of their way to deliver what might have been the craziest on-court fight of the season.
We haven’t seen anything comparable to Isaiah Stewart battering ram his teammates and coaches last season because he got elbowed by LeBron James. This time, a different Piston, Killian Hayes, got upset at an unsportsmanlike shove from Moritz Wagner which resulted in Hayes knocking Wagner out with one punch. Fans were shocked to see this happen.
PISTONS-MAGIC MAYHEM 🚨
Moe Wagner shoved Killian Hayes into the Pistons bench.
Hayes retaliated by punching him in the back of the head and Wagner appears to lose consciousness. pic.twitter.com/bwrHq1qKmY
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) December 29, 2022
Hayes looking at a long suspension. The Pistons are already the worst team in the league with him, so it’s not like they’re going to miss him much.
— Blair Farthing (@CTVBlair) December 29, 2022
“KiLLiAn hAyEs cAnT uSe HiS riGhT haNd” pic.twitter.com/8tUimLWbzj
— Eli (@EliBashiNBA) December 29, 2022
Orlando Magic fans after watching what Killian Hayes did to Mo Wagner. pic.twitter.com/pV548lZ0jR
— V̷a̷t̷o̷r̷ (@VatorSports) December 29, 2022
Mo Wagner looked like he lost consciousness prior to the elbow from Killian Hayes. Not justifying it, but that was weird.
— GOWIE (@DaKidGowie) December 29, 2022
Bro looked around, saw his life flash before his eyes and was outta there
— Ced™ (@cedfunches) December 29, 2022
Flagrant 2 on Moe Wagner. He's ejected.
Technical foul and ejections for Killian Hayes and Hamidou Diallo.
The NBA will definitely review the tape and we're going to end up with suspensions for more guys after this.
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) December 29, 2022
Reports say the Washtenaw County Prosecutor already has the verdict in of just a fine for Wagner.
— Matt Dery (@DerySpeaks) December 29, 2022
Wagner vs Hayes, winner gets Webanyama.
I solved it.
— i. adan (@Imman_Adan) December 29, 2022
Killian Hayes gave Moritz Wagner that French connection 🥊 #Pistons pic.twitter.com/VaAYISvOFL
— Pistons Talk (@Pistons__Talk) December 29, 2022
Over/under 10 game suspension for Killian Hayes?
— Bryson Wright (@BrysonWright3) December 29, 2022
People are naturally going to default to complaining about the punch but Wagner was clearly the one to instigate the fight. Hayes will probably get suspended for a few games because of this but if punishments are to be handed out, both players should get something or neither player should be penalized.
Are Punishments Really Necessary?
On a night in the NBA where Grayson Allen almost got into a fight with DeMar DeRozan and Jonas Valuncuinas with Austin Rivers, it seems tempers are pretty high tonight. Mo Wagner shouldn’t have pushed Hayes when the pair were running up for the ball, it’s an incredibly dirty move on his part.
Hayes might have felt the need to retaliate but didn’t have to in the way that he did. He may feel like he was defending himself but nobody will look at that situation in that light. He threw a punch to the back of the head, always a risky move. Punishments are bound to fall on both players for this incident, as has happened before.
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