SI

Nets, Pacers Players Had to Be Separated in Nasty Scuffle Leading to Ejection

Four technical fouls and an ejection were assessed after the ugly fracas.

Dan Lyons

Brooklyn Nets and Indiana Pacers players are separated after a hard foul during a regular season game.
Brooklyn Nets and Indiana Pacers players are separated after a hard foul during a regular season game. / via YES Network
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A mid-March regular season game between the fourth-place Indiana Pacers and 12th-place Brooklyn Nets doesn't jump off the page as an obvious opportunity for a nasty shoving match, but that's exactly what happened during the fourth quarter in Indianapolis on Thursday night.

Nets forward Trendon Watford ran up on the Pacers' Andrew Nembhard after a bucket by Indiana's Bennedict Mathurin, drawing the ire of Myles Turner, who immediately shoved Watford. The scuffle quickly expanded, with numerous Nets and Pacers running onto the court and officials and coaches attempting to separate the combatants.

It was an ugly scene at Gainbridge Fieldhouse:

Watford was given two technical fouls for starting the scuffle and ejected from the game, while Turner and Nembhard received one technical each. The game would go to overtime, and Nembhard was assessed a second technical for arguing a call with referee Tony Brothers, earning him an ejection as well.

Indiana was too much for Brooklyn in the extra frame, pulling out a 105–99 overtime win.

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Dan Lyons
DAN LYONS

Dan Lyons is a staff writer and editor on Sports Illustrated's Breaking and Trending News team. He joined SI for his second stint in November 2024 after a stint as a senior college football writer at Athlon Sports, and a previous run with SI spanning multiple years as a writer and editor. Outside of sports, you can find Dan at an indie concert venue or movie theater.

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