The Detroit Pistons and the Orlando Magic faced off on Wednesday night in a game that was overshadowed by a wild brawl that included some punches thrown in a dangerous incident.
The brawl occurred in the second quarterback between Magic center Mo Wagner and Pistons guard Killian Hayes.
Wagner was chasing down a loose ball with Hayes in hot pursuit. Hayes was clearly going to get to the ball first, and Wagner proceeded to shove him into the Pistons’ bench.
Tempers flare in Detroit after an altercation between Moe Wagner and Killian Hayes.@OrlandoMagic | #MagicTogether pic.twitter.com/ig6lYrdju8
— Bally Sports Florida & Bally Sports Sun (@BallySportsFL) December 29, 2022
Hayes clearly didn’t appreciate this, retaliating with a punch to the back of Wagner’s head, which seemed to cause Wagner to lose consciousness briefly over by the Pistons bench.
Both sides then proceeded to jump into the action and pushing and shoving ensued between both sides. Luckily nobody else ended up being hit in the action, but Wagner was very clearly affected by that hit to the back of the head.
Wagner was ultimately assessed a flagrant 2 foul for pushing Hayes and was ejected, while Hayes and Pistons guard Hamidou Diallo were also ejected for their involvement in the brawl.
Many around the NBA world took to social media to give their take on this rare altercation on Wednesday night.
“Killian Hayes will likely be suspended for that. Dangerous,dangerous play. More dangerous than the simple push from Wagner,” tweeted Herb Scribner of Axios.
Killian Hayes will likely be suspended for that. Dangerous, dangerous play. More dangerous than the simple push from Wagner.
— Herb Scribner (@HerbScribner) December 29, 2022
“Killian Hayes literally cold-cocked Mo Wagner. Thank god we didn’t have another Malice at The Pizza Palace,” tweeted Dan Leach of VSIN Live.
Killian Hayes literally cold cocked Mo Wagner
Thanks god we didn’t have another Malice at The Pizza Palace #Pistons #Magic
— Dan Leach (@DanLeachDTM) December 29, 2022
Hayes will almost certainly receive a suspension for punching Wagner, and we are lucky that things did not end up even worse from this ugly brawl.
[Bally Sports Florida on Twitter]
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.