In the midst of a hard-fought showcase between the Chicago Bulls and the Cleveland Cavaliers, chippy and heated sequences emerged.
Starting from Billy Donovan and Max Strus going at it for a brief moment regarding a no-foul call that resulted in a technical foul at the side of the Bulls' coach, the Wednesday matchup saw another embattled spat between Coby White and Georges Niang.
The event occurred at the 8:25 mark of the final frame when White swung Niang's arm after a defensive play. The Cavs forward retaliated and used his left hand to shove Coby back. The two quickly exchanged words, went head-to-head, and had to be separated by officials and team staffers.
As they were already distant from each other, both Coby and Georges continued their barking with each other.
Bulls-Cavs getting chippy
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) February 15, 2024
Georges Niang and Coby White both received a technical foul. pic.twitter.com/LeAj3Y8mab
As expected, both players were slapped with technical fouls, each upon the short review made by the referees.
The spicy altercation served as another momentum for Coby to torch the Cavs, but his game-high 32 points wasn't enough to lift the Bulls to a win, 108-105, despite posting a 17-point margin in the first half.
“It’s part of the game. It’s nothing that needs to be overblown. I’m not going to think about it twice after this,” said Niang of his brouhaha with White, who ended up with 11 points. “Obviously, I’m passionate about winning. I’m a competitor, and at that moment in the game, I’m not going to back down from anything and neither is he. That’s just how basketball is. So it happened, obviously the refs addressed it and then we moved on.”
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