NBA Twitter reacts as Garrison Mathews and Malik Monk almost come to blows after a heated exchange
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Malik Monk and Garrison Mathews fight
One may have expected it to be a regular game of basketball between the Sacramento Kings and the Houston Rockets, but that’s not what the result was. The game turned out to be one involving fistfights between the players of the two teams. The violent altercation ultimately led to four players, including Malik Monk, getting ejected from the court for their involvement in the fight. The Sacramento Kings had a commanding 17-point lead in the third quarter and were in complete control of their game against the visiting Houston Rockets.
Up until the fourth quarter, it appeared as though the Rockets would suffer another dull defeat by a wide margin. This is when things took an ugly turn. Early in the fourth quarter, Garrison Mathews and Malik Monk got into a fight with Sacramento leading 112-94. Mathews lifted his left arm to block Monk as the two guards pursued a stray ball; Monk didn’t like it.
The ball was then smacked by Monk as Mathews was holding it. Before the benches of both teams moved to the Rockets’ end of the floor, both immediately got into a heated argument and verbal spat.
Garrison Mathews was kept at bay by Houston Rockets center Boban Marjanovic, who is 7’4″, by impeding his way along the sidelines. Cooler heads attempted to step in, but players from both sides continued to chirp. This is how NBA Twitter reacted.
Garrison Mathews, and Malik Monk among 4 players ejected for unruly behavior
Tensions were high following the fight between Monk and Mathews during the early minutes of the fourth quarter. It took the intervention of players, referees, and coaches to separate the two. As a result of their participation in the subsequent altercation, other players from both teams were suspended as well. While Rockets rookie Tari Eason “came in and he was an instigator,” Kings big man Chimezie Metu was benched for “being an escalator.”
When Mathews received a flagrant foul penalty for intentionally fouling Sacramento rookie Keegan Murray on Wednesday, the animosity from the Kings’ victory over the Rocket carried on to this game.
The bad news is that the Kings and Rockets will repeat this in less than a month when they play again in a three-day span in Houston on February 6 and February 8. Fortunately, cooler heads managed to prevail on Friday night before fists were thrown or anyone was seriously injured. With 15 points off the bench, Monk was one of the game’s top scorers prior to being sent off.
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Abhivyakt Sharma
(270 Articles Published)