For a moment the mind travels to that November 19, 2004, to one of the worst pages of the NBA, when at the Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan, between the Indiana Pacers and Detroit Pistons, a fight broke out that went down in history as “malice. at the Palace “, the evil at the Palace. For a moment, because this time the fight remains on the pitch, it doesn’t move to the stands and the negative protagonists are LeBron James and Isaiah Stewart who set fire to 9’18 “from the third siren Detroit-Los Angeles Lakers.
The fist, then the fight
The Californians win a comeback 121-116, but lose King James sent off for a punch in the face of Steward during the third quarter. The long of the Pistons, with his face covered in blood, immediately seeks revenge against the Chosen One, but is blocked (with difficulty) by his teammates. The situation degenerates when the same Steward, three times, manages to get rid of the “friendly block” and tries to chase LeBron to return the forbidden blow. Cunningham, Grant and Joseph literally have to “tackle” Steward to avoid the worst. From the stands the whistles are plentiful, the referees are unable to calm the situation which fortunately does not degenerate when six are finally able to get Steward out of the field. The images clarify what happened and the Detroit long and LeBron James are expelled.
Lakers comeback without LeBron
Before the double expulsion the match had gone very well for the Pistons (4-12) who even after the fight continued to push under the basket flying on +17 before undergoing the yellow-violet comeback. Westbrook, to whom the referees had whistled a coach because he was considered “a provocateur”, and Davis take matters into their own hands during the last quarter and with a 14-2 run the Lakers (9-9) are back in the game. Russell scores 15 of his 26 points in the last fraction, Carmelo Anthony (18) starts putting bombs from outside the box one after the other, Anthony Davis takes care of the rest with the final 30 points. In Detroit there remains the regret of having touched the blow: 36 points for Grant, triple double for the rookie Cunningham (12 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists, to which must be added a tackle, the one on Steward.
Ok Golden State, Phoenix, Clippers e Chicago
I continue to fly to the west Golden State Warriors (15-2) who beat the Toronto Raptors 119-104 (8-10). To make the news is the “no” evening of Steph Curry harnessed in the Canadian defensive web: only 12 points and 8 assists for him. But in the new Warriors, when the MVP does not run twice, Andrew Wiggins and Jordan Poole think about doing the phenomena: 32 points for the first, 33 for the second. He pursues the summit Phoenix, who, after the three defeats in the first four outings, has never lost. Against the Denver Nuggets (9-8) comes the twelfth consecutive success for the Suns (13-3), dragged to 126-97 by Johnson (22), Ayton (21) and Booker (17). At the Staples Center victory of the Clippers (10-7) over the Dallas Mavericks (9-7) for 97-91. The Mavs, still without Luka Doncic, also go down by 12, they recover up to -3, but in the final they are stretched by the couple formed by Paul George (29) and Reggie Jackson (23). In the East success and primacy for Chicago (12-5) who knocks out 109-103 the New York Knicks (9-8) hitting the fourth victory in the last five outings: 31 points for DeMar DeRozan, 21 for LaVine. Randle’s 34 is not enough for the Big Apple franchise.
The results
Los Angeles Clippers-Dallas Mavericks 97-91, Detroit Pistons-Los Angeles Lakers 116-121, Chicago Bulls-New York Knicks 109-103, Phoenix Suns-Denver Nuggets 126-97, Golden State Warriors-Toronto Raptors 119-104.
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