Thunder-Pelicans nearly brawl at buzzer after testy 4th quarter

Things got more than a little chippy at the end of Tuesday's game between the New Orleans Pelicans and Oklahoma City Thunder, leading to a near-brawl between the teams.

The action started heating up with a little over a minute to go in the fourth quarter and the Thunder up seven. Oklahoma City's Jaylin Williams and New Orleans' Saddiq Bey got tangled up on an inbounds play and had to be separated after exchanging shoves. Both players received technical fouls.

Tensions at Paycom Center then boiled over at the final whistle. After the Pelicans missed a final shot at the buzzer, Lu Dort and Jeremiah Fears got into it under the net, leading to both benches clearing. Dort appeared to try and grab Fears near his neck, but instead got a fistful of jersey as the pile grew larger.

"I wasn't too sure what happened," Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander told reporters postgame of Dort and Fears' exchange, including ClutchPoints' Josue Pavón.

"I had heard them going back and forth after I made the last two free throws. ... And then I turned around and they were face-to-face. I'm sure it was nothing crazy though. Typical basketball scuffle."

Oklahoma City head coach Mark Daigneault felt the whole skirmish could've been avoided had the referees done a better job of managing the game down the stretch.

"I think that's a foul on Dort. And if it was, they should put a whistle on that play regardless of the score and time because if they do that, everybody stops playing and you can legislate the situation as you normally would," Daigneault said, per Pavón.

"But because they didn't put a whistle on it, it's the end of the game. They can do nothing about it, and you end up with that situation."

When the dust settled, the Thunder walked away with a 104-95 win.