11 Players Suspended Following NBA Brawl Between Orlando Magic and Detroit Pistons
The NBA has suspended 11 players following a brawl on Wednesday night during the Orlando Magic and Detroit Pistons game.
The conflict began before halftime when Magic player Moe Wagner and Pistons player Killian Hayes went after a loose ball. Wagner hit Hayes with a hip-check which led to Hayes responding with a punch to the back of the head. This led to both teams leaving their benches and players spilling onto the court. Wagner and Hayes were both ejected from the game as well as Pistons’ guard Hamidou Diallo who shoved Wagner before the punch.
Following the game, Pistons head coach Dwayne Casey called out many of the Orlando players claiming they instigated the fight.
“I was upset, because my understanding of the rule was the fact that when you leave your bench to get into an altercation, you’re escalating,” Casey said.”My thing is, there were words being said, things being said by their players and coaches that were not de-escalating the situation … For them not to have anyone ejected [other than Moe Wagner], I have to go back and have an explanation … That’s how bad things start. It could’ve been worse. I don’t feel like they were de-escalating the situation.”
The NBA announced the resulting disciplinary action in a statement on Thursday. Hayes will be suspended for three games and Wagner is suspended for two. Diallo has been suspended one game and eight players on the Magic are also suspended one game for leaving the bench area. Because of the number of players suspended, the suspensions will be served on a staggered basis so the Magic team has enough players to compete.
The 121-101 win over the Magic on Wednesday, took the Pistons to 9-28 on the season. They are the only team in the league without having double-digit wins on the season. With the loss, the Magic moved to 13-23 and are three games back of the last playoff spot.
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