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Insane Timberwolves + Pistons Melee Spills into Crowd
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- Insane Timberwolves + Pistons Melee Spills into Crowd
Matt Krohn-Imagn Images
The NBA Playoffs are in the air. If you don't believe it, all you had to do was tune into tonight's matchup between the Minnesota Timberwolves and Detroit Pistons at Target Center. After the away team jumped out to an early lead, driven by former Wolf, Malik Beasley , who hit six of his first nine three pointers and let everyone in the building know about it.
But this MN Timberwolves team, when at its best this season, doesn't get pushed around by anyone. Much of that can be attributed to the additions of Julius Randle and, even more so, Donte DiVincenzo . So when Beasley got hot and started talking about it to former teammates and Target Center fans, the DiVincenzo made it his mission to stem the Malik Beasley momentum.
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Minnesota Timberwolves vs Detroit Pistons gets heated…
He hit some shots in the 1st quarter, then showed his physicality in the 2nd quarter, battling for rebounds and trying to fight back mentally against the fire Detroit brought to Minneapolis Sunday night. As he tends to do, DiVincenzo also started getting into the heads of Pistons players, starting with five-year veteran Isaiah Stewart .
Full sequence between Isaiah Stewart vs Donte DiVincenzo
Donte screaming Fuck no when Stew shot the ball. pic.twitter.com/iymNgL0c9g— Pistons Talk (@Pistons__Talk) March 30, 2025
That foul was called on DiVincenzo, but gives a great snapshot into what was brewing between Stewart, the Pistons vs Donte and the Minnesota Timberwolves. That becomes important for what happened a little while later.
That's when Naz Reid was fouled by Pistons rookie Ron Holland II, on his way to the basket. One aggressive finger wag later, and Holland became upset. Once the 2024 No. 5 overall draft pick got hostile, guess who stepped in between him and and Naz Reid?
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Malice at Target Center
Of course, it was DiVincenzo, who gave up about a foot in height and 1.5 feet in reach to the younger, more athletic Holland. It didn't matter though. When push literally came to shove, it was Holland going to the ground with the forearm of DiVincenzo at his neck.
From there, Pistons and Timberwolves coaches and teammates all jumped into the action, which spilled into the first five rows of the cameramen and fans behind the hoop. Eventually, Holland emerged from the pile with what appeared to be a bloody lip. Divincenzo had a 3-inch vertical cut/scratch on the right side of his adams apple.
A fight breaks out between the Pistons and Timberwolves
Donte DiVincenzo, Naz Reid, Ron Holland, Isaiah Stewart, Marcus Sasser , Pistons HC J. B. Bickerstaff and Wolves assistant coach Pablo Prigioni were all ejected pic.twitter.com/TJA3OczOxB— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 31, 2025
Stephen A Smith wouldn't last a second with these men. pic.twitter.com/SUHUZ59msy
— Leighton Glodek (@LGlodek) March 31, 2025
When all was said and done, five players — Reid, Divincenzo, Stewart Holland and Marcus Sasser were all tossed. So were MN Timberwolves assistant Pablo Prigioni and Detroit head coach, JB Bickerstaff. In most situations, NBA fights are nonsense and they usually hurt your team.
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Related: Timberwolves Planning to Keep Julius Randle and Naz Reid…?
But if there were ever a case where the Minnesota Timberwolves needed a hockey-style melee to turn the tide of a basketball game, it was tonight. Donte Divincenzo sensed it, and he wasn't afraid to go there. A couple fans and a cameraman got a few signed jerseys out of the deal, and there may be some suspensions on the way too.
Co-owner A-Rod of the @Timberwolves doing some good damage control after the melee that ended up stands. pic.twitter.com/Uv8aBOSBb5
— Patrick Mooney (@PatrickMoondog) March 31, 2025
But Donte brought the energy that his team desperately needed tonight. And they responded both before and after his ejection. Will it be enough to will the MN Timberwolves to victory vs a very hungry Pistons team? We'll find out in the second half.
Here are some of the best tweets reacting to tonight's events.
Nah look at what Isaiah Stewart did to Donte DiVincenzo 😭💀
CRYING 😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/4uTbQvnW1J— Hater Report (@HaterReport_) March 31, 2025
— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) March 31, 2025
"DETROIT! F*ck outta here."
— Isaiah Stewart was still repping Detroit after getting ejected 🍿
pic.twitter.com/375nieNYYM— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) March 31, 2025
All this happened because of Isaiah Stewart. Kick his bum ass our the league
— Barflaan Tedoe 🇱🇷 (@The_Barftender) March 31, 2025
