The BasketBrawl at MSG

Last night during the Nuggets scoring onslaught vs the Knicks, a fight broke out. Luckily it only spilled into the front row of the stands and didn't involve fans as much, but nonetheless it had shades of the Pistons-Pacers megabrawl a few years ago.

In one corner you have Mardy Collins, lesser known player for the Knicks. In the other we have, JR Smith, high flier and newcomer to the Nuggets teams this season. The Nuggets already ahead in the game were up a good 20 points or so, yet they still had their star players in the game, like Marcus Camby, Carmelo Anthony and Smith. The Knicks were apparently upset that the Nuggets were still playing their stars and still playing to punish them. Well sorry Isiah, Knicks, that's part of basketball, to win and to defeat your opponent. Collins threw down JR Smight hard to the court, Smith bounced up and got in Collins' face. A melee ensued between 10 players, spilling tiny Nate Robinson and Smith into the front row behind the basket.

Obviously there's a certain code of conduct to be followed as well, and hard fouls can become wrestling moves at times. It's understandable that JR Smith would be upset by it. What's not understandable is Carmelo's "cheap shot" at Collins. Melo threw a punch in the mix and backed off. He will be out at least a game for this action, which wasn't even necessary. He probably wanted to stand up for his teammate, who had already tangled in the front row with Nate Robinson who tackled him. Those guys just might miss 5 games for that move. You don't go in the stands these days, because Mr. Stern is watching..Same happened to Ray Allen and Keyon Dooling about a year ago.

Isiah has been rumoured to have mouthed threats to opposing players this year, including Melo last night, who they say Thomas told "you might not wanna go near the paint tonight much". Isiah is trying to bring the bad boys back. Problem, the Knicks just arent the same as those championship caliber teams.

We wait for Monday, when the punishments are handed out. Interesting, 10 guys in total were tossed, 5 from each team:

From the Knicks: Nate Robinson, David Lee, Mardy Collins, Jared Jeffries & Channing Frye.

From the Nuggets: Melo, Camby, JR Smith, Eduardo Najera, Andre Miller.

I expect a few 1 game suspensions for minor players, possibly 2-3 games for Melo, and about 5 games for Robinson and JR Smith. Losing these guys could hurt the Nuggets who are still playing for a good seed/record in the West. Like the newscaster said, hopefully Melo will learn from this early season mistake, and be more of a leader than a fighter.