Austin Rivers, Mo Bamba Trade Haymakers During Melee Between Magic, Timberwolves
Friday night's NBA game between Orlando and Minnesota quickly devolved into mayhem. An all-out brawl saw five players ejected.
Late in the third quarter, with the Timberwolves down by 10, Austin Rivers found himself standing out-of-bounds in front of the Magic bench. He started jawing his opponents before Mo Bamba took things into his own hands. Literally.
The 7-footer got up out of his seat and started swinging. Bamba and Rivers exchanged punches for a moment before their teammates got involved and tried to break things up.
As they did, Jalen Suggs went over to Rivers and took him to the floor.
Bamba went after Rivers and it resulted in a melee under the basket. Players from both teams were clawing and scratching at each other while others, and coaches, worked to get the two sides separated.
Eventually, after a lengthy scuffle, things calmed down. Bamba and Rivers were ejected after the incident. Suggs, Taurean Prince and Nathan Knight were also tossed.
Here is how things went down from start to finish:
The entire incident appeared to stem from the prior possession. Rivers missed a three from the corner, right in front of Orlando's bench. Bamba and Markelle Fultz teased him for the miss and the former stuck his tongue out at Rivers.
It was on Minnesota's next possession that Rivers went over to the bench and sparked Bamba to get up and start throwing.
After being ejected, Bamba set his Instagram story to indicate that Rivers "f—ked around and found out."
THIS LEAGUE!