• A bench-clearing fight involving multiple players and coaches took place during a Detroit Pistons and Minnesota Timberwolves game.
• The Pistons, who were leading at the time of the altercation, lost the game 123-104.
• Both teams are awaiting possible suspensions from the league, with the Pistons facing potentially harsher penalties.

MINNEAPOLIS — This year’s Detroit Pistons team has earned comparisons to the “Bad Boys” from some fans — arguably, the highest compliment one can bestow upon a Pistons team. Through that lens, Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves was a graduation rite.

Three Pistons — Ron Holland, Isaiah Stewart and Marcus Sasser — and head coach J.B. Bickerstaff were ejected early in Sunday’s second quarter following a bench-clearing fight with the Timberwolves that spilled into fans sitting by the baseline. Minnesota players Naz Reid and Donte DiVincenzo and assistant coach Pablo Prigioni also earned ejections following the scuffle, but the Pistons were hit harder. 

With Cade Cunningham and Tobias Harris already both in street clothes due to injuries, the Pistons ended up losing on the road, 123-104, after falling behind in the second half. It’s not an ideal start to a three-game road trip, but it was also an identity-building game for a scrappy team trying to earn respect from the league. 

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“Obviously, things went too far,” Bickerstaff said after the game. “The initial part of it, you go back and watch the film and see where it started, and then obviously things escalated from there, but what you see is guys looking out for one another, guys trying to protect one another, guys trying to have each other’s backs, and that’s that. 

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“Obviously you’re frustrated,” he continued. “The game didn’t go the way we hoped it would’ve gone. That instance is one of those things where you play the way that we play, you earn a reputation, you’re going to be tested, and guys think that’s what they have to do. But you regret where all of it took place, that’s not something you ever want to see happen, but again I thought our guys stood their ground and defended each other and had each other’s backs, and those are non-negotiables in our locker room, that you stand your ground and you defend one another and have each other’s backs. I thought our guys did that tonight.” 

The main question following the game is whether the league will hand out suspensions, which could leave the the Pistons shorthanded in their nationally televised game against the NBA-leading Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday (9:30 p.m, FSNDX/ESPN).

Several Pistons left the bench to protect their teammates in the conflagration, and Stewart has already received multiple flagrant fouls this season, resulting in a one-game suspension after passing the flagrant foul point threshold. 

But it was a uniting moment for a team that has an established history of not shying away from fights. Several altercations preceded the squabble between the two teams, including a mid-air collision between Holland and DiVincenzo after a block and a technical foul for Stewart after he shoved Rudy Gobert lightly in the chest. 

Emotions boiled over after Holland knocked away a layup attempt by Reid with 8:36 remaining in the second quarter, getting called for a foul. Reid appeared to scold Holland afterward, pointing his finger at the rookie. DiVincenzo, who had committed an offensive foul less than 30 seconds earlier — driving into Simone Fontecchio while his feet were set — confronted Holland alongside Reid, culminating in a forearm in Holland’s high chest. 

Holland pushed DiVincenzo away while trying to confront Reid, and a shoving match broke out. Stewart and Sasser immediately ran to his defense, and appeared to zero in on DiVincenzo as he tried to regain his balance after falling into the front row of fans seated behind the rim. 

“Two guys went at it and spilled over into the crowd, which was super dangerous,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. “Obviously it just kept escalating and escalating, mostly from their side, to be honest with you. I thought leading up to that, that the game was way too physical. I thought it was a little lopsided in its physicality, and I thought that it was bound to happen. It just felt like it was coming.”

Bickerstaff criticized Prigioni, implying he said something disrespectful about his players during the scuffle.  

“There were things said by their assistant coach, and I’m in the same boat as my guys are in,” Bickerstaff said. “We’re going to defend each other and I’m not going to let people say belligerent things about my guys. It’s that simple. He knows what he said and I didn’t think it crossed a line, the escalation of anything. In that moment, I understand the ref’s position, but you can’t just say anything to people, or about people, and expect it to be OK.” 

The fight altered the trajectory of a game that initially started in the Pistons’ favor. They led by 16 late in the first quarter after Malik Beasley knocked down four consecutive 3-pointers. They led by 10 when the fight took place, then gave up a 24-11 run that allowed the Wolves to take the lead for good late in the third. 

Despite the loss the Pistons (42-33) have tripled their win total from last season and have postseason play locked up with seven games remaining. Their magic number for an official playoff spot — sixth or better in the Eastern Conference — remained at two, but they could clinch no worse than the sixth seed with losses by the Orlando Magic and Atlanta Hawks before they take the court against the Thunder on Wednesday. The Pistons enter Monday fifth in the East, 1½ games behind the Indiana Pacers for the fourth seed (and homecourt advantage in the first round) and 1½ games ahead of the Milwaukee Bucks in sixth. 

“Tonight could leave a bad taste in all of our mouths, but you give our guys a ton of credit for the way they played over this past week, the way that they moved the ball, the way that they collectively competed,” Bickerstaff said. “I couldn’t be more proud of them. And then coming in tonight again shorthanded against a good basketball team that’s playing for something as well, it was going to be a tough challenge for us. I thought they came out with the right attitude, the right purpose and did a lot of the right things.”

Contact Omari Sankofa II at [email protected]. Follow him on X and/or Bluesky.

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