Thursday’s matchup between the Nets and Indiana Pacers at Gainbridge Fieldhouse was as bodily because it will get.
With 4:48 left in regulation, simply seconds after a made Bennedict Mathurin layup — a bucket Indiana wanted to remain inside putting distance — Trendon Watford, Andrew Nembhard and Myles Turner bought right into a scuffle on the far baseline.
Each benches cleared. Insanity ensued. Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez, making an attempt to play peacemaker, wound up getting shoved into the stands. Nembhard and Turner bought slapped with technical fouls for his or her roles within the altercation. Watford obtained two technical fouls and was ejected for the primary time in his NBA profession.
“I mean, you don’t want to get to that point, but at the end of the day nothing happened,” Fernandez mentioned. “It was just two teams playing hard. They were competing. We were competing.”
After the sport, Dustin Dopirak of the Indianapolis Star performed a Pool Report interview with Crew Chief Tony Brothers. When requested in regards to the scuffle, Brothers mentioned Watford pushed each Turner and Nembhard, and every of them pushed Watford, in order that’s why Turner and Nembhard have been assessed one technical and [Watford] was assessed two.
Nembhard was ejected later in additional time for utilizing vulgar language in direction of an official twice.
“I think the guys did a good job; they fought for each other. You don’t want to see any of your teammates get ejected, but [Trendon] was out there fighting, fighting for all of us.”
In fact, momentum swung in Indiana’s favor from there. Brooklyn led by as many as seven factors within the fourth quarter and was up 5 on the time of the altercation. The Pacers outscored it 26-15 over the ultimate 4:48 of regulation and additional time.
Keon Johnson fouled Mathurin on a game-tying 3 on the finish of regulation. Mathurin knocked down all three free throws and despatched the sport to additional time. Then with underneath 24 seconds left within the further session, Nets down a bucket, Turner blocked Johnson’s dunk try on the rim — and that was all she wrote.
Ultimately, the Nets in some way discovered a option to blow one other late-game lead. And this newest lapse spoiled a profession evening for Ziaire Williams, who completed with 22 factors and a career-high six made 3s.
“He was committed to shooting the ball,” Fernandez mentioned of Williams. “He shot 12 3s, made six, and that’s what we want to see. And we shot enough as a group. Unfortunately, they didn’t go in… We have to shoot way better.”
Brooklyn, which pressured a formidable 25 turnovers within the loss, fell to 0-4 in overtimes this season. It’ll run it again in opposition to the Pacers on Saturday.
