Going into this game, if I thought there was going to be some sort of skirmish, I would’ve definitely picked Daniel Gafford and Christian Wood. Those two players play with such intensity around the basket that it would seem inevitable that eventually there would be too much contact and the situation would quickly escalate into punches.
I was right for half of it. Gafford was involved, but the Pistons half of the skirmish was none other than Andre Drummond. Surprise! He’s basically lack-of-intensity personified. I guess if you prod him enough, as Gafford did, you can awaken then sleeping giant.
It wasn’t much of a fight though. Gafford got elbowed (probably accidentally) by Drummond while going for a rebound, then posted him up and scored a tough bucket through contact. A little bit of trash talk later, and he gets a ball chucked at the back of his head by Drummond. Gafford has a bit of a crazy look to him which makes him not someone I would chuck a basketball at, but credit to him, he didn’t just start going to town on Drummond with his fists. I guess he was content with just watching Drummond get ejected.
We were THIS close to Malice at the Palace part two (Massacre at the Little Caesar doesn’t have the same ring to it) but it didn’t happen. Darn it!