When you’re going up against the Indiana Pacers, here’s what you have to expect: a tough, physical and defensive-minded game. The Golden State Warriors ran into just that on Tuesday night – and more.
Halfway into the fourth quarter, David Lee – perhaps frustrated from something that may have happened on a previous play – gave Roy Hibbert a blatant shove on a box-out right after a whistle, prompting the center to shove back in retaliation. Lee then responded by throwing his shoulder at Hibbert. From there, things got out of control in Bankers Life Fieldhouse:
Here is the NBATV crew’s take on what happened:
The shoving match between Lee and Hibbert started it all, but it was the activity between Hibbert and Stephen Curry – of all people – that garnered the most amount of attention. The 6’3″ guard tried to hold the 7’2″ center back from escalating the situation, and that clearly did not work out as the sharp-shooter may have hoped, as he got knocked to the ground by the much bigger Hibbert.
Hibbert picked up two technicals for an automatic ejection, while Curry, Lee, Klay Thompson and David West each received a technical foul for their involvement. West was seen shoving several people out of the way, including someone that appeared to be an assistant coach. It will be interesting to see if any suspensions will be handed out by the league from this incident.
Marcus Thompson of Bay Area News Group detailed what Hibbert, Curry, Lee and West had to say after the contest:
Pacers are a team of fake tough guys – have been for decades.
Please correct this – Danny was not talking about Curry. He was conducting a clinic for the Spurs Youth Basketball League and was referring to what happened when he told 300 kids “to bring it in”. He was not anywhere near a TV to watch the Warriors/Pacers game. Read his whole timeline.