The score was close Wednesday night at Delta Center, and the tension was high afterward.
With the Bulls leading the Jazz by one point and just over nine seconds left in the fourth quarter, the two teams got into a violent brawl centered around Utah’s John Collins and Chicago assistant coach Chris Fleming.
Things started out innocently enough when the Bulls inbounded the ball to DeMar DeRozan, who was immediately fouled by Collin Sexton along the sideline.
However, the game started to become unstable when the Bulls’ Torrey Craig, who was not in the game, appeared to take an unusual view of Sexton punching DeRozan in the face for an intentional foul. was that time.
Later, as both teams gathered near the Bulls’ bench, Fleming took a step and appeared to be trying to block Collins from getting closer.
But then Collins pushed Fleming high and both teams started attacking each other before being separated.
In the end, Collins and Craig were given technical fouls, and the Bulls won the game 119-117.
“I think Chris Fleming was trying to keep everyone from breaking up.” Bulls head coach Billy Donovan said after the game.. “And from there, it kind of escalated. …At that point, I stepped in to defuse it a little bit.
“In my opinion, in moments like that, we have to be better.”
DeRozan had a game-high 29 points, seven assists and six rebounds.
