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SALT LAKE CITY — Call it a case of the wrong place at the wrong time.
The Chicago Bulls inbounded the ball with 10 seconds left in the game right in front of their own bench. Jazz guard Collin Sexton sprinted over to DeMar DeRozan and tried to make a quick steal before committing a foul to extend the game.
It was mostly a standard play at that point in the game; the Jazz were down by a point and needed to foul to stop the clock from expiring. Bulls guard Torrey Craig, who was in street clothes on the bench, however, took exception. He arose from the bench and started walking up on Sexton.
That's how the altercation began that ended with three technical fouls and Jazz forward John Collins getting into a shoving match with a Chicago assistant coach.
"It was a normal hard foul, and the next thing you know, like Torrey came up (to me)," Sexton said. "I was like, it was a hard foul, it's basketball. I mean, we're all going for the ball. We're all competing, and at the end of the day, I'm definitely not out there trying to hurt nobody."
The foul in question was mild, to put it lightly, but it had been an intense quarter, so emotions were running hot.
The two jawed back and forth as Collins meandered over to the scene. As he joined in on jawing, Bulls assistant coach Chris Fleming pushed the Jazz big man in the chest to seemingly keep him away.
"I think (Fleming) was trying to hold everyone off to try and separate," Chicago coach Billy Donovan said. "From there, it kind of escalated."
Collins pushed Fleming back, and soon both teams converged at the spot as security and coaches from both teams tried to separate players.
"I'm standing there and the coach comes over and just shoves me for no reason. Y'all can go watch the film," Collins said. "And I just protected myself. Literally, just standing there. Dude just puts a forearm in my chest and is pushing me back. So I don't know, he needs some more self-control; it's whatever. I don't know what to say about that. That was weird."
Weird ... and nearly very beneficial.
After a lengthy review, the officials gave Fleming, Torrey and Collins technical fouls, which resulted in a free throw for the Jazz — a free throw that drastically changed the final seconds. Instead of the Bulls being up by 3 points following DeRozan's made free throws that resulted from the initial foul, they were only up a pair.
That eliminated the chance for the Bulls to foul up 3 and gave the Jazz a chance to win the game with a triple. Sexton got a clean look from the corner for the win, but the shot bounced off the rim.
"I think it was a great play for us — giving us a free throw," Jordan Clarkson said. "I was hoping we got two techs because, I mean, we didn't start any of the altercation. But, yeah, given us extra free throw and a chance to win the game at the end."
And that fact — not who started what or who pushed who — was what weighed on Donovan after the incident.
"We have to better in those moments, in my opinion," he said. "Not only did we lose a point on a technical foul, we also iced our free-throw shooter."
