NBA Tuesday Night Is Fight Night! ... Two Games Descend Into Chaos
Published January 28, 2026 7:40 AM PST
012826 nba fights
Tuesday night in the NBA looked more like Fight Night ... with players in not one, but two games getting feisty on the hardwood, with one hooper having to be restrained all the way through the tunnel to the locker room!
The first scrap of the evening involved the reigning NBA champs (and '26 frontrunners), the Oklahoma City Thunder, who were playing the New Orleans Pelicans. Immediately after the final buzzer sounded ... OKC's Lu Dort and New Orleans' Jeremiah Fears got into a benches-clearing skirmish, where Dort put up a fist as the two were grabbing each other's jerseys.
Lu Dort and Jeremiah Fears got into it on the final play of the game π³ pic.twitter.com/pd57nEKb5f
β Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 28, 2026 @BleacherReport
Once they were able to separate the two players, members of the Pelicans staff had to hold Fears all the way back to the locker room, with Zion Williamson seemingly looking to catch up and calm him down.
Even after order was restored, Fears wasn't done, responding to a photographer on social media who snapped a pic of the fight, commenting "soft ah."
Jeremiah Fears in the hallway after the altercation with Lu Dort.
(via @MrBuckBuckNBA)
pic.twitter.com/FFvp5mQb1t https://t.co/rDZOKuBMY9
β Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) January 28, 2026 @TheHoopCentral
From Oklahoma to Phoenix ... the Suns and the Brooklyn Nets also saw tensions boil over, this time during the 4th quarter.
As Brooklyn's Ziaire Williams dove for the ball ... Dillon Brooks attempted to rip it out of his hands while on the ground, prompting Egor DΓ«min to give a little shove, sending Brooks to the floor.
SUNS VS. NETS GET INTO IT β
Assistant coaches were everywhere. ππΏ
pic.twitter.com/6YW4xzDhGr
β Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) January 28, 2026 @TheHoopCentral
That led to more pushing and shoving before both coaching staffs hit the hardwood to defuse the situation.
Active night in the association!