The “scuffle” between the Utah Jazz and Indiana Pacers last night in Salt Lake City looked more like two very tall men violently hugging and pulling on each other’s jerseys to see who gets a Beanie Baby.
The Jazz sat at 8-3, with Indiana coming in at 4-8. The Pacers led 102-92 with just over four minutes left in the game when things tried to get ugly.
Jazz’ center Rudy Goebert attempted to dunk after an inlet pass, while Myles Turner of Indiana went up with a forceful block attempt. Goebert missed the lay in attempt and tumbled to the floor, grabbing Turner’s shorts and pulling him down too. Turner immediately turned and looked at the official while still on the seat of his shorts, wondering why no foul was called on Goebert.
The two men got up and started moving towards half court, when Turner leaned directly into Goebert, setting off the next chain of events. Both men immediately went after each other, with on-court security, officials and assistant coaches having to get between the two.
Did you ever see a pro wrestling brawl where all of the officials run out from the back to separate the two men in the ring, when everyone at home knows the security is only going to be beaten up themselves before the fracus resumes?
While Michael Conley was trying to calm Goebert down as his teammate, Jazz star guard Donovan Mitchell decided to blow his cool, as he began yelling at Turner and the entire Pacer bench. Mitchell had to be restrained by several Jazz assistant coaches after moving toward the Indiana bench several times.
Indiana held on for a 111-100 victory, which was Utah’s first loss at home this season.
Turner and Goebert were both ejected, while Mitchell and Jazz guard Joe Ingles were both subsequently ejected for being the third and fourth men in. No other Indiana player was assessed any further punishment.
The NBA is becoming more of a farce every season. From having each team with more uniform options than the Oregon Ducks, to terrible fights, to the super teams still dictating the balance of power, the game may be a worse product now than at any point in history.
The Jazz wore their road blue jerseys last night, but the league wants to call them “Icon” jerseys. Home white jerseys are “Association.”
Only one team in the league--Oklahoma City--is under the $112.414 million salary cap, and only because the Thunder sold off anything of value to tank and rebuild.
Four minutes and a 10-point deficit was certainly not insurmountable for the Jazz until the scuffle went down. The Jazz are a contender in the Western Conference, while the Pacers will be scratching to get into the play-in tournament.
Utah’s 52-20 record last season was the best in the NBA, but not enough to get past the second round, where the Clippers advanced over the Jazz in five games.
We have not seen a decent fight in the NBA since “The Malice At The Palace,” but that was between the players and fans. NFL players have pads on from head to toe, but still throw a decent punch, even if the opposing player has a helmet covering their entire head. Hockey takes care of itself...next question. Hell, Rougned Odor got in one of the cleanest punches to the chin of Danny Bautista in a 2016 MLB game.
Certainly suspensions will be coming for all four players involved, with Turner and Goebert expected to get the longest ones. Both should be lucky their skirmish didn’t go to the judge’s scorecards.
-JC24