The Indiana Pacers may have beaten the Golden State Warriors Tuesday, but they lost star player Roy Hibbert after he was suspended one game due to a brawl that occurred after he began fighting with Warriors star David Lee.
Both Hibbert and All-Star forward David Lee were suspended for a game due to their parts in what became a bench-clearing brawl the took place with just over six minutes to go in the Pacers' 108-97 win over the Warriors.
The altercation started when Lee and Hibbert began shoving each other beneath the basket as they jockeyed for position at the 6:10 mark in the final quarter.
The shoves soon escalated into a fight and Hibbert was ejected from the game subsequently.
Hibbert will serve his suspension in Thursday's game against the Los Angeles Clippers, while Lee will sit out Wednesday against the New York Knicks.
In addition to announcing those suspensions, the NBA is also fining Pacers guard Lance Stephenson and Warriors guards Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson $5,000 each for their roles in the fight.
The fight actually spilled into the stands, bearing an eerily similar tone to the infamous brawl in 2004 between the Detroit Pistons and the Pacers at the Palace in Auburn Hills in Detroit, during which a hard foul from Detroit's Ben Wallace to Ron Artest-now Metta World Peace-led to a brawl throughout the arena that resulted in Artest being banned for the season and nine players suspended for more than 140 games.
In an interview with the Indianapolis Star, Hibbert said he regretted his part in the scuffle.
"My mom was a little upset," Hibbert told the Star. "She said I should have walked away. It's unfortunate it happened. I watched the video and I saw there was a little kid that ran up out of his seat when all that happened.
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