When looking at the NBA schedule for Wednesday, Dec. 28, the matchup between the Orlando Magic and the Detroit Pistons at Little Caesars Arena probably was the least attractive between two of the worst teams in the Eastern Conference. While the level of play didn’t disprove that prediction, one action just before halftime did bring all the attention to what was happening in the “Motor City.”
How did the Magic-Pistons brawl happen?
With 35 seconds left to play in the second quarter, Orlando lost the ball and as the Pistons’ Killian Hayes was about to get it back and get an easy fast break, Moritz Wagner deliberately and violently pushed him into the Detroit bench.
Hayes immediately got up with a gesture full of fury and took revenge on his rival by giving him a brutal punch in the back of his head, with which Wagner fell on the Pistons bench and suddenly all the players of both teams began a brawl that was relatively soon contained without consequences to be regretted.
After the altercation, the referees decided to eject Hayes, Wagner and another Pistons player, Hamidou Diallo who also appeared to throw punches to defend his teammate. Detroit won the game 121-101.
The sad memory of Malice at the Palace in 2004
While the brawl was going on, the man in charge of the local sound system at Little Caesars Arena repeatedly repeated the following message to the fans “Nobody move. Stay in your seats. Do not move from your seats.”
This message is important because when talking about the Pistons’ home and brawls, it is impossible to forget the embarrassing incident known as “Malice at the Palace“.
That event occurred on November 19, 2004 in a game between Detroit and the Indiana Pacers in which after a brawl between Ben Wallace and Ron Artest, the visiting player lost control after a bottle was thrown at him and went to fight with fans in the stands in one of the most painful events in the history of professional basketball in the United States.