It’s only the first week of preseason and nothing truly counts for anything just yet, but that didn’t stop the first scuffle of the season between the Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards on Monday.
There was plenty of bad blood between the two teams when they met last season in the first round of the playoffs, particularly when this play happened between Jimmy Butler and Nene Hilario. Butler was in the center of a foul play again when newly-added Paul Pierce fouled him hard in transition around the neck area. While the referees called time to decide whether the foul should be called a flagrant, the two started jawing at each other before Joakim Noah tried to intervene. That’s when things got out of control:
Noah tried to direct Pierce away from Butler, but Pierce wouldn’t have any of it and eventually pushed Noah in the forehead with his finger. Noah then started to go after Pierce before everyone quickly got in between the two to defuse the situation.
Pierce’s former teammate Tony Allen saw the clip and had this to say:
https://t.co/HhE4AjsVnf via @vineapp P2 ain’t going
— Tony Allen (@aa000G9) October 7, 2014
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James Park is a blogger and editor of Sheridan Hoops. Follow him on twitter @SheridanBlog.