You never like to see it, but fights aren’t exactly uncommon in professional sports. Tensions run too high during games and all it takes is a cheap shot or some trash talk to push someone over the edge.
We saw that on Thursday when Donovan Mitchell and Dillion Brooks got into it after the latter cheap-shotted the former. Still, that whole situation was a lot less ugly than what transpired on Friday.
Austin Rivers and Mo Bamba exchanged punches in the game between the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Orlando Magic on Friday, with the situation escalating into a wild brawl.
AUSTIN RIVERS AND MO BAMBA GET INTO IT 🤯 https://t.co/kUFYXgPvI5
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) February 4, 2023
Five players ended up being ejected from the game as the officials doled out the punishment.
5 players were ejected following the incident https://t.co/kAodcSQhkV pic.twitter.com/sd8eJjvKpW
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) February 4, 2023
What seems to have caused this was Bamba, who was sitting on the bench, saying something to Rivers as he attempted a corner three-pointer. That eventually led to Rivers having some words with him and Bamba reacted with a punch. They both will get suspended for this but the Magic big man would probably get a harsher punishment from the league, as he wasn’t supposed to even be on the court at that time.
The Magic Are On The Rise
The incident somewhat took the focus away from yet another win for the Magic. They were 5-20 at one point this season but have improved to 21-32 with this latest win and are very much trending upward. Paolo Banchero looks set to be a star in this league and they have good pieces around him like Franz Wagner.
Markelle Fultz has also shown flashes of brilliance, as he did against the Sixers on Monday, after which Joel Embiid said the Sixers had given up on Fultz too soon. Expect this team to continue to make noise this season and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them in the playoffs next season. The future seems bright in Orlando for the first time in quite a while.
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