The Pistons showed up to Target Center on Sunday ready to literally fight. But, for the first quarter, the Timberwolves looked more ready to go to bed. Until Donte DiVincenzo decided to step into the ring.
Shortly after Isaiah Stewart got a technical foul for a push early in the second frame, Detroit rookie Ron Holland delivered a little shove to DiVincenzo after a foul was called against Holland.
DiVincenzo would have no more of that. He grabbed Holland and wrestled him into the first row of seats located under the basket. And it was on.
A bevy of players got into the outskirts of the skirmish, which didn’t feature any thrown punches, but ample pushing in a skirmish that leaked into the spectators. In the end, five players were ejected —DiVincenzo and Naz Reid for Minnesota and Holland, Stewart and Marcus Sasser for the Pistons. Detroit head coach J.B. Bickerstaff and Minnesota assistant Pablo Prigioni, who were jawing at one another in the wake of the incident, were also sent to the locker room.
The lingering question for Minnesota is whether anyone, specifically, DiVincenzo, will face a suspension from the NBA. The Wolves play in Denver on Tuesday.
But what mattered most for Minnesota on Sunday was that the Wolves woke up in time to rally from a 16-point deficit to down Detroit 123-104.
With the win, Minnesota leapfrogged the Clippers to move into the No. 7 spot in the Western Conference and remained on Golden State’s heels for the six seed.
Minnesota trailed at the time of the skirmish, and went down by 14 with fewer than five minutes to play in the half. But after the ejections a Detroit team that entered the night sans Tobias Harris and Cade Cunningham was then down five guys, and the Wolves won the war of attrition.
Anthony Edwards scored 20 points in the third quarter. Rudy Gobert dominated the affair with 19 points and a whopping 25 rebounds.
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