Things got heated between the Nets and Knicks during a tense moment when Kyrie Irving scrambled for a loose ball. He thought he was out of bounds, but Bobby Portis wasn’t having it and tried to take the ball from him. Taurean Prince jumped in to defend Kyrie, turning a small tussle into a crowded scuffle. Prince then tried to play peacemaker even though he escalated the situation. Players yelled things like “relax” to calm it down, and eventually they did.
Julius Randle stepped in trying to understand what just happened. He casually mentioned that he’d been fouled on the elbow, pointing to a clear moment of contact. The refs didn’t call it, but on replay it was a fair point. After the scuffle, Prince was spotted on the sideline drinking milk and joking with teammates.
A surprising moment came when players shoved or pushed referees during the dustup without consequence. In baseball, that kind of contact brings an instant suspension, but in the NBA it seems much more relaxed. The contrast stood out, especially to viewers more familiar with MLB rules. Despite the chaos, things settled quickly and no techs or ejections happened. Just another chippy New York rivalry moment.