Despite the relative intimacy of a basketball court, fights are rare occurrences.
Since the Malice at the Palace in 2004, the NBA have actively tried to keep all on-court fights at a minimum.
On Tuesday night that changed, as Toronto Raptors welcomed Chicago Bulls north of the border. The home side overturned a 16-point deficit to win 122-120 in overtime, but it was a third quarter on-court fight that stole the headlines.
Toronto's Serge Ibaka and Chicago's Robin Lopez were involved in the fight after Ibaka elbowed his opponent's lower back. From there the two men threw punches at each other, as teammates and officials tried as quick as possible to intervene.
Although both threw punches at the other, there was minimal contact made on either side. Unsurprisingly both men were ejected from the game.
Both will be expected to be punished for their roles in the fight, although no bans have yet been made. Post-match, Ibaka said he was simply trying to "defend myself" after he said Lopez threw the first punch.
Replay Review (Game Crew): player altercation in Q3 of #CHIatTOR. Ruling: Fighting technical fouls assessed to Lopez & Ibaka (both ejected). pic.twitter.com/bFIK5awlZc
— NBA Official (@NBAOfficial) March 22, 2017
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