The Brooklyn Nets engaged in a shoving match with the Phoenix Suns toward the end of the game. What did Demin and Fernandez have to say?
Egor Demin hit an NBA rookie record against the Phoenix Suns. Yet the final minute of Tuesday's Brooklyn Nets game became a larger topic.
The rookie sharpshooter visibly is seen pushing off Dillon Brooks during a scuffle for possession of the basketball. A fight breaks out afterward -- leading to technical fouls for five different players including three from Brooklyn.
Demin immediately shared his side of the story with reporters after the loss.
“I just had to get him off Ziaire,” Demin said of shoving Brooks. “It was a dead ball, and the whistle was blown already."
However: "I didn't have any intentions to hurt anybody or to even start a fight. I got out of there right away because I'm not trying to fight nobody. That's not what I'm basically doing."
Still, Demin wanted to stand up for his teammates.
"I gotta make sure that our guys are protected," Demin said. "We should just go and fight for each other. That's all I wanted to do. Just take him off my teammate.”
His Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez reacted to what he saw from courtside.
"Those are just guys protecting each other and fighting for each other,” Fernandez said to the media after the game. “I think they did a great job. You're not gonna let any of your teammates get hit or pushed or anything.
"Obviously, there's boundaries, and we don't want anyone to get hurt, but you saw a few dirty plays," Fernandez continued. "They called it or they didn't call it. At the end of the day, I think it got out of hand because of that. But I like my guys sticking up for each other.”
He also added how there was one member of the Nets playing hurt during that scuffle sequence.
"[Ziaire] is hurt. We don't know exactly what it is right now. It was a member of the other team running in to break up the right and he ran into him and hurt him," Fernandez acknowledged. "Obviously, it was not intentional, but you gotta be careful with those things. So we'll see what happens. We'll see how long it is. Hopefully, it's not a long time.”
It's not known if any league discipline will get levied to all the players who were involved in the fight. Meanwhile, the Suns' Brooks now has committed 15 technical fouls already this season. One more results in a one-game suspension.
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