Detroit Pistons Team Report - November 20

(Basketball News) - The Detroit Pistons fell to the Indiana Pacers, 97-82 on Friday, but that wasn’t the big story, as the game was stopped late in the fourth quarter due to a fight on the court that spilled into the stands and included the fans.

The Pacers led a seemingly calm game by 15 points with 45 seconds left and then things unraveled. Detroit’s Ben Wallace was fouled by Artest and the Pistons center took exception to what he deemed a hard foul and gave Artest a two-handed push to the face.

After that, the fighting continued by the scorers’ table as players came off both benches to continue the melee on the court. The Detroit fans then lost all control and began throwing cups filled with liquid and ice at Artest, who was surprisingly staying out of harm’s way on top of the scorers’ table. Artest was hit in the head with a flying cup and immediately raced into the stands where he started punching the culprit.

Indiana guard Stephen Jackson followed into the crowd, along with several Pacer players, and started swinging away at the unruly fans.

After security tried to get the players out of the crowd, the game was called with 45 seconds remaining. However, the fighting was not over as Detroit fans continued to pelt the Pacers as the players were being escorted into the locker room. The players and coaches were finally able to make it into the tunnel, but not before all tempers were lost.

This was the first game between these two teams since last year’s Eastern Conference championship. The Pistons won last year’s series 4-2 before eventually winning the NBA title.

Indiana will next visit Motown on March 25 and hosts the Pistons on Christmas Day.

Richard Hamilton scored 20 points and Rasheed Wallace added 19 points and 10 boards for the Pistons, who have lost three of their last four games. Ben Wallace, who was playing in his second game back following the death of his brother, had 13 points and 10 rebounds in the loss.

The Pistons will return to action on Sunday when they host the expansion Charlotte Bobcats.