Kris Dunn pushed Russ, Jerami Grant intervened and Robin Lopez was *heated* 😳 pic.twitter.com/NhJlQmHDVT
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) December 18, 2018
Tempers were high at Chesapeake Energy Arena on Monday when the Chicago Bulls battled the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Bulls guard Kris Dunn took exception to Russell Westbrook perhaps getting a tad too physical late in the third quarter, resulting in Dunn shoving the former league MVP out of frustration. Jerami Grant intervened by getting into Dunn's face before an angry Robin Lopez stepped in and tangled with Grant.
Even Bulls head coach Jim Boylen got involved, pulling Grant away from Lopez as the two jawed at one another.
Jim Boylen in here pic.twitter.com/w4ObZnEgSG
— Jim Woboylen (@WorldWideWob) December 18, 2018
Dunn, Westbrook, Grant, and Lopez were all whistled for technical fouls, but no one was ejected from the game at the time.
Lopez got the boot minutes later, however, after picking up a second technical foul for looking down at a fallen Grant.
Standing ovation from @okcthunder fans after @chicagobulls Robin Lopez is ejected from the game.#ThunderUp | #CHIvsOKC pic.twitter.com/eL3cwa2wF7
— FOX Sports Oklahoma (@FOXSportsOK) December 18, 2018
"They need the ball to shoot the free throws. I thought the refs had done enough. I wanted to alleviate some of their work," Lopez joked following Chicago's 121-96 defeat, according to the Chicago Tribune's K.C. Johnson. “They had an abnormally large workload for the first half of that quarter. I wanted to help them out, ease their pain a little bit, ease their burden. And I guess not everybody saw it the same way."
