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Tempers flared during a pair of recent NBA games, and both contests were marked by tense clashes between players.
Tuesday’s Suns–Nets game featured five technical fouls as New Orleans Pelicans rookie Jeremiah Fears and veteran Thunder player Lu Dort were separated in the second half. A push from Dort appeared to spark a bench-clearing brawl at the end of the Thunder’s 104-95 win.
The officials did not call a foul after Dort made contact with Fears during a layup attempt. Players and coaches from both teams quickly joined the fray to try and separate Dort and Fears.
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New Orleans Pelicans guard Jeremiah Fears (0) drives past Oklahoma City Thunder guard Luguentz Dort (5) during the second quarter at Paycom Center on January 27, 2026 in Oklahoma City, Okla. (Alonzo Adams/Imagn Images)
After the match, Fears took to social media where he labeled Dort “soft”.
Thunder coach Mark Daigneault placed the blame on the officials, claiming they failed to maintain control of the situation before it escalated.
“Good guys, good crew, but I thought they lost control of the game in the last few minutes,” Daigneault told reporters in his postgame press conference. “I thought the argument eventually started well before that with [Saddiq Bey and Jaylin Williams] situation. I thought they could have handled that cleaning machine.”
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Daigneault also expressed his belief that Dort should have been called for a foul during the play, arguing that the score should not affect whether the referees blow the whistle.
“The other thing is that I think it’s a mistake on Dort. And if it was, they should have blown the whistle in that game regardless of the score and the time, because if they do, everyone stops playing and you can legislate the situation as you usually do. But because they didn’t blow the whistle, it’s the end of the game. They can’t do anything about it.”
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Luguentz Dort (5) walks away from a fight with New Orleans Pelicans guard Jeremiah Fears (0) during the second half at Paycom Center on January 27, 2026 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. (Alonzo Adams/Imagn Images)
About an hour after the Thunder-Pelicans game ended, a separate incident broke out at the Suns-Nets game.
With less than two minutes left in the close game, Nets guard Egor Dëmin pushed Suns forward Dillon Brooks to the floor. A chaotic scene ensued, with players and coaches leaving the benches and the referees assessing a total of five technical fouls. Earlier in the match, Brooks was called for a technical foul after he pushed Dëmin.
Brooks’ technical foul for the earlier incident was his 15th of the season. He is one from triggering an automatic suspension in one game.
Egor Dëmin (8) of the Brooklyn Nets reacts during a second half scrimmage between the Nets and the Phoenix Suns at the Mortgage Matchup Center on January 27, 2026 in Phoenix, Ariz. (Jeremy Chen/Getty Images)
“It’s just guys protecting each other and fighting for each other,” Fernández said. “I think they did a great job. You’re never going to let any of your teammates get hit or pushed or anything.
“Obviously there are limits and we don’t want anybody to get hurt here. But you’ve seen a couple of dirty plays and they didn’t call it. I think it got out of hand because of that. I like my guys to stick up for each other.”
