Myles Turner and Rudy Gobert get into a scuffle during a fourth-quarter sequence.
A combined four players from the Indiana Pacers and Utah Jazz were ejected late in the fourth quarter of Thursday’s game in Salt Lake City, which Indiana won, 111-100. The incident happened with 4:01 left in the game.
At that point in the game, Pacers center Myles Turner shoved Rudy Gobert, planting his shoulder in his back after a missed layup. Gobert responded by hugging Turner and trying to wrestle him to the floor. The two players had to be separated near the basket across from the Pacers bench.
Turner blamed the scuffle on Gobert knocking him to the floor after the initial play.
“I had to stand up for myself in that situation,” Turner said. “I don’t think I did anything wrong. But that’s not for me to decide. We’ll talk to the league and see what happens from there.”
Game Recap: Pacers 111, Jazz 100
Mitchell scored 26 points and Gobert added 19 points and 11 rebounds. Mitchell blamed the scuffle on built-up frustration over the referees allowing too much contact early in the game.
“That whole thing could have been avoided — just draw the line early, as opposed to letting it build up for the whole game,” Mitchell said.
After the game, Gobert had much to say about the altercation.
“Guys need to stop acting like they’re going to do more, and [just] play basketball,” Gobert said, per The Salt Lake Tribune. “And if they do want to do more, let’s do it outside the court and without security and then we’ll figure it out. But on the court, ain’t nobody going to do s—. Let’s stop acting like we’re about that life. Most guys are not.
“At some point, I might have to stand up for myself. [Especially] if the officials keep doing what they’ve been doing over this season — they’re allowing guys to do way too much s—. I keep my head cool because I have a lot of self-control. … And I didn’t feel a threat at all. I’m not gonna fight on a basketball court. But if somebody wants to fight, I’m easy to reach. I’m really easy to reach. I’m just not going to do it on social media. If anyone has a problem, I’m not going to solve it on Twitter or WhatsApp.”
Gobert scored 11 points in the third quarter to help the Jazz briefly rally. Turner and Malcolm Brogdon combined to make three 3-pointers on three straight possessions to quell the run and extend the Pacers’ lead back to 83-74.
“This is a top-five team in the league. But we brought a great level of fight to the game, and we were able to get it done,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said.
Utah drew no closer than five points in the fourth quarter and had any comeback hopes dashed with the ejections of Mitchell and Gobert late in the quarter.
“We lacked physicality,” Gobert said. “We let them get way too many offensive rebounds. They were the more aggressive team tonight. We made some runs, but you know, we couldn’t get the stops we needed.”
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
