The Minnesota Timberwolves picked up a contentious 104-123 win over the Detroit Pistons tonight. The biggest talking point from the game wound up being the team-wide brawl, which led to seven people getting ejected from the game, including Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff and Wolves’ assistant coach Pablo Prigioni.
Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch spoke in detail about the courtside brawl, which could result in suspensions for the involved parties.
“Two guys went at it, and it spilled over into the crowd, which is super dangerous. It kept escalating and escalating, mostly from their side, to be honest with you. I thought leading up to that the game was too physical. I thought it was lopsided in its physicality, and I thought that it was bound to happen. Just felt like it was coming.”
“It got to a point where the players were going to take matters into their own hands. You never want that. There’s a lot of antics alongside it, too. We had to settle down and try to play basketball.”
Finch also explained the involvement of his assistant coach, Pablo Prigioni, in this scuffle.
“From my understanding, he was trying to have a conversation with the referee about one of their players who was prone to these situations. Their bench had an issue with it, and they exchanged words. They thought we were trying to address the officials, and things just escalated. I didn’t see anything worthy of an ejection that Pablo did.”
"It kept escalating and escalating… I thought leading up to that, the game was too physical… I thought that it was bound to happen. Just felt like it was coming."
Chris Finch on tonight’s altercation during the Timberwolves-Pistons game 🗣️
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— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) March 31, 2025
This altercation started after rookie Ron Holland fouled Naz Reid, which led to both teams exchanging words. This quickly got heated as Donte DiVincenzo shoved Holland, which was the spark point that led to the courtside team-wide brawl. The brawl extended into the fan seats as well.
The referees ejected five players after the clash, alongside the two coaches, as Minnesota lost DiVincenzo and Reid. The Pistons saw Holland, Isaiah Stewart, and Marcus Sasser be sent out of the game after this clash.
This incident happened in the second quarter, with the Pistons up 60-54 through the first half. However, losing three key rotational players and their coach in a game where they were already without Cade Cunningham was a death sentence, getting outscored 44-69 in the second half by the Timberwolves and losing 104-123.
Julius Randle led the Timberwolves with 26 points, eight rebounds, and five assists, while Anthony Edwards contributed 25 points, six rebounds, and four assists. Rudy Gobert had a monstrous double-double with 19 points and 25 rebounds.
Detroit relied on veteran shooters Malik Beasley (27 PTS) and Tim Hardaway Jr. (20 PTS) to lead them in a game where they entered short-handed and lost even more players during the contest.
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