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Bulls' Mirotic: Raptors assistant 'was trying to be a strong man'

John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

Tuesday's fight between Toronto Raptors big man Serge Ibaka and Chicago Bulls center Robin Lopez may have been the main event, but fans were nearly treated to an undercard bout when things got heated between Bulls forward Nikola Mirotic and former All-Star Jamaal Magloire.

Magloire, a 12-year NBA veteran who now serves as a Raptors assistant in a player development role, was one of the coaches on the court in the aftermath of the Ibaka-Lopez skirmish, and ended up nose to nose with Mirotic.

"He was trying to be a strong man," Mirotic told theScore in the visitors' locker room of Air Canada Centre. "He was trying to push me. I pushed him off. I told him 'don't touch me.'

"I tried to separate Ibaka, because I know him. I went to Ibaka, trying to separate him, because it's not necessary to fight. It's just a game. I understand there is some frustration in the moment - this was a very emotional game - but why did this guy come into the game and try to push me, talk to me, and talk s--- about me? It's crazy, man. It's disrespectful. You never expect that from a coach."

In a longer video of the incident, Magloire and other Raptors assistants can be seen attempting to block Mirotic from getting to Ibaka, who needed to be restrained by teammate P.J. Tucker.

Mirotic wouldn't elaborate on what was said during the exchange - which led to offsetting technical fouls - and Magloire wasn't made available for comment after Toronto's overtime victory, but Raptors head coach Dwane Casey doesn't believe Magloire did anything out of the ordinary to escalate tensions.

"I thought he was just making peace," Casey said. "Their coaches were grabbing our players, everyone trying to break (it up), he and Mirotic had words or whatever, but the coaches are out there as peacemakers, I do know that. Their coaches were grabbing our guys, I was making sure - everybody was making sure - that their players were back, and separated, and nobody was getting hurt."

Tuesday's incident wasn't the first time an assistant coach has been involved in a recent skirmish, as DeMarcus Cousins received a technical foul for shoving Bulls assistant Jim Boylen last month, while Luke Walton berated a Bucks team staffer for grabbing and shoving Lakers rookie Brandon Ingram just last week.

"You never expect an assistant coach is going to push you," Mirotic said. "That's the first time I've seen that. That's maybe something new. Hopefully he's going to get fined for that, so he can learn."

Barring an unlikely postseason matchup this spring, the Raptors and Bulls won't meet again until next season.

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