Referees booted out five players and two coaches from Sunday's contest between the Detroit Pistons and Minnesota Timberwolves following a shoving match during the second quarter.

The fracas ensued after Pistons rookie Ron Holland hit T-Wolves big man Naz Reid with a hard foul, sparking a verbal exchange between the pair. Minnesota's Donte DiVincenzo stepped in to separate them, but Holland shoved DiVincenzo aside, prompting the former Villanova star to grab Holland.

The altercation escalated as multiple players got involved, with DiVincenzo and Holland, along with the Pistons' Isaiah Stewart and Marcus Sasser, tumbling into the second row of the stands.

After officials cleared the melee, members of both coaching staffs got into a verbal altercation.

Referees ejected Reid, DiVincenzo, Holland, Sasser, and Stewart. Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff and T-Wolves assistant Pablo Prigioni were also kicked out.

Bickerstaff implied that he was tossed for responding to comments from Prigioni, according to Keith Langlois of Pistons.com.

"We're going to defend each other, and I'm not going to let people say belligerent things about my guys. It's that simple. He says what he said and he knows what he said," Bickerstaff said.

The league suspended Stewart for one game and fined him $50,000 earlier in the season for receiving his sixth flagrant.

The Timberwolves outscored the Pistons by 25 in the second half to secure a 123-104 victory.