Motown Melee-Pacers get into ugly brawl with Detroit fans at end of win

[jdj]

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) -- Indiana's Ron Artest and Stephen Jackson charged into the stands and fought with fans in the final minute of their game against the Detroit Pistons on Friday night, forcing an early and ugly end to the Pacers' 97-82 win.

The game was stopped with 45.9 seconds remaining when a pushing and shoving between the teams spilled into the stands after fans began throwing things at the players near the scorer's table.

"It's the ugliest thing I've seen as a coach or player," Pistons coach Larry Brown said.

After several minutes of players fighting with fans in the stands, the Pacers were pelted with beer, ice, and popcorn as they made their way to the locker room in one of the scariest brawls in an NBA game.


http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/basketball/nba/11/19/bc.bkn.pacers.pistons.ap/index.html

[blue sky at night]

1. sports.........ha ha.........

come on lets get serious, how can we waste so much time and energy on this load of crap? Turn off, tune out, go help the poor.

[laruemtt]

2. amen. what a spoiled bunch of overpaid brats. n/t

[catzies]

3. Some people do both, like me. I love the sport and it's embarrassing

because it's indefensible.

[jdj]

4. sorry, I'm human. I need a distraction every now and then.

[0rganism]

5. Probably the first time Rick Mahorn ever tried to STOP a fight

"Former Pistons player Rick Mahorn, who was seated courtside as a Detroit radio analyst, tried to stop the brawl in the stands."

Huh? What have you all done with the REAL Rick Mahorn? :P

Bad Craziness.

[qanda]

6. That was absolutely unbelievable

Not a good moment in NBA history.

[Psephos]

7. Let Laimbeer have a "word" with them...problem solved n/t

[blackcat77]

8. Total lack of security

I make no claim at being unbiased here. I've been a Pacer fan since they were in the ABA and I've never really like the Pistons. But tonight should never have gotten to the point that it did. There was NO security at all. The (Stupid? Drunk? Some combination the two?) Pistons fans started crowding down on the Pacers bench while Ben Wallace was having his little hissy fit. Artest did NOTHING until he was hit in the face with a cup full of beer. After that, he just reacted.

No, he shouldn't have gone into the stands but OTOH, who could blame him. The problem is that there should have been a barrier of cops and security between the fans and the players to prevent the kind of nonsense that triggered the initial problem.

After that, the fans just went nuts, running out on the floor, throwing chairs, for God's sake!, throwing bottles, popcorn and epithets with very little effort on the part of anybody to stop them.

Yes, there will be suspensions -- that's unavoidable -- but the big problem is drunken, rowdy fans. They were a plague on the football matches in Europe until the clubs and the authorities finally cracked down. And it's going to have to happen here. NBA players should NEVER be subject to physical assault from fans while on the court. Let's not forget who got hit first!

[NEOBuckeye]

9. This isn't surprising at all coming out of Detroit

I'm just surprised that it didn't happen sooner.