The NBA suspended 11 players after Wednesday night’s brawl during the Detroit Pistons’ 121-101 win over the Orlando Magic.
The league handed out punishments Thursday night after the altercation at Little Caesars Arena. Pistons guard Killian Hayes received a three-game suspension, and Magic forward Moe Wagner received a two-game suspension.
Pistons guard Hamidou Diallo received a one-game suspension for his role in the altercation, along with eight different Magic players who were all suspended for leaving the bench area once the incident began.
That group of players — Cole Anthony, R.J. Hampton, Gary Harris, Kevon Harris, Admiral Schofield, Franz Wagner, Mo Bamba and Wendell Carter Jr. — will serve their suspensions on a staggered basis so that the Magic have enough players to compete.
The fight broke out just before halftime of Wednesday’s matchup in Detroit when Wagner and Hayes were chasing down a loose ball in the backcourt. As they neared the Pistons’ bench, Wagner hit Hayes with a hip-check that sent him falling to the floor. That prompted a quick response from Hayes, who jumped right back up and punched Wagner in the back of the head.
That blow sent Wagner falling down into the Pistons’ bench hard, and prompted a much larger altercation to break out behind him.
Coaches and officials eventually separated the group, and Wagner and Hayes were ejected. Diallo was ejected, too, as he shoved Wagner before the punch.
Pistons head coach Dwane Casey called out the group of Magic players and coaches who rushed in to the swarm after the game, clearly unhappy with how it escalated.
“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 deescalating 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 deescalating the situation.”
The Pistons held a 17-point lead at halftime and cruised to the 20-point win, which snapped a six-game losing streak. Alec Burks dropped 32 points off the bench for Detroit, and Saddiq Bey added 28 points and eight rebounds off the bench.