Coach involved in big NBA brawl is proud of his players: "Those are non-negotiables in our locker room"

An NBA match between Minnesota Timberwolves and Detroit Pistons on Sunday ended in a huge brawl early in the second quarter, that saw seven people ejected; five players and two coaches. It started with a verbal confrontation between Isaiah Stewart, centre for Detroit, Ron Holland, forward for Detroit, against Minnesota players Dante DiVincenzo (guard) and Naz Reid (forward). It quickly escalated into a physical fight, with other players and coaches joining in as they invaded the stands, forcing some spectators to flee out of their seats.

The referees also ejected Detroit head coach J.B. Bickerstaff and Minnesota's assistant coach Pablo Prigioni. Bickerstaff defended his players' actions and even seemed proud of them, saying that "Obviously things went too far, but what you see is guys looking out for one another, guys trying to protect one another, guys trying to have each other's backs... Those are non-negotiables in our locker room".

Bickerstaff also accused Prigioni of triggering the incident: "I'm not going to let people say belligerent things about my guys. And it's that simple. So he said what he said. He knows what he said."

The match ended with victory for Minnesota Timberwolves, 123-104, leaving them seventh in the West Conference (43-32), while Detroit Pistons are fifth in the East Conference (42-33). NBA Play-offs start on April 19: the six best teams in each conference qualify, while teams ranked seventh and eight play the play-in.