Malice at the Palace
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| Date | November 19, 2004 | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Venue | The Palace of Auburn Hills, Auburn Hills, Michigan | ||||||||||||||||||
| Referees | Tim Donaghy, Ron Garretson, Tommy Nuñez Jr. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 22,076 | ||||||||||||||||||
The Pacers–Pistons brawl (colloquially known as the Malice at the Palace) was an altercation that occurred in a National Basketball Association (NBA) game between the Indiana Pacers and the Detroit Pistons on November 19, 2004, at The Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The Associated Press (AP) called it "the most infamous brawl in NBA history".
With less than a minute left in the game, a fight broke out on the court between several players. After the fight was broken up, a fan threw a drink from the stands at Pacers player Ron Artest while he was lying on the scorer's table. Artest then entered the crowd and sparked a massive brawl between players and fans that stretched onto the court.
After the game, the NBA suspended nine players for a total of 146 games, which led to $11 million in salary being lost by the players. Five players were also charged with assault, and eventually sentenced to a year of probation and community service. Five fans also faced criminal charges and were banned from attending Pistons home games for life. The fight also led the NBA to increase security between players and fans, and to limit the sale of alcohol in games.
The meeting was the first between the two teams since the previous season's Eastern Conference Finals, which the Pistons won in six games en route to their first NBA title since the "Bad Boys" era of the late 1980s and early 1990s. This caused the game to receive much hype from the media and fans. Having won two games in a row, the Pacers came into the game with a 6–2 record, while the Pistons, the defending champions, began their season 4–3. The game was televised nationally on ESPN, as well as on the Pacers' and Pistons' local broadcast affiliates, Fox Sports Midwest and WDIV (Detroit's NBC affiliate), respectively.
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