Rudy Gobert and Myles Turner were ejected late in Thursday’s game which the Indiana Pacers (5-8) won 111-100 over the Utah Jazz (8-4). At the 4:01 mark in the fourth quarter, both players got tangled up under the basket and started an incident that caused two Jazz players, Donovan Mitchell and Joe Ingles, to get thrown out of the game.
Gobert and Myles Turner got into it 😳 pic.twitter.com/M9Rkb6IwYz
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) November 12, 2021
It all started when Pacers center Myles Turner shoved Rudy Gobert in the back after a missed layup while screaming an expletive. Gobert responded by trying to drag him to the floor. Then the two started wrestling before being separated.
After the game, Turner blamed the scuffle on Gobert, knocking him down on a previous play via NBA.com.
“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.”
Rudy Gobert has his reflection on the incident via The Salt Lake Tribune.
“Guys need to stop acting like they’re going to do more and [just] play basketball,” Gobert said.
“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.
Donovan Mitchell, who yelled at the Pacers bench before getting ejected finished with 26 points, five rebounds, and four dimes, blamed the referees for allowing too much physical play early to build up frustrations on both sides.
“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.
The League has made no announcements of fines or suspensions yet.
