Egor Demin, Dillon Brooks altercation sparks wild fight between Nets, Suns resulting in injury

Brooklyn Nets rookie Egor Demin had enough of Dillon Brooks’ antics down the stretch of Tuesday’s 106-102 loss to the Phoenix Suns. Demin shoved Brooks in the final minutes of the game, sparking a scuffle between the two teams that led to five technical fouls and an injury.

With the Suns leading 104-102 with 1:14 remaining, Ziaire Williams and Brooks got tied up while battling for a loose ball. While a jump ball had been called, Brooks continued to pull at the ball, leading Demin to shove him off Williams, who was on the ground.

Royce O’Neale, Grayson Allen, and other Suns players came to Brooks’ defense. Michael Porter Jr. and Terance Mann got involved for Brooklyn, while a handful of assistant coaches from each side rushed to break up the altercation.

Demin, Mann and Porter, who shoved Suns assistant Demarre Carroll during the melee, each received technicals for Brooklyn. O’Neale and Allen received technicals for Phoenix.

“I just had to get him off Ziaire,” Demin said of shoving Brooks. “It was a dead ball, and the whistle was blown already. I didn’t have any intentions to hurt anybody or to even start a fight. I got out of there right away because I’m not trying to fight nobody. That’s not what I’m basically doing. But I gotta make sure that our guys are protected. We should just go and fight for each other. That’s all I wanted to do. Just take him off my teammate.”

A big scuffle breaks out after Egor Demin shoves Dillon Brooks, who was pulling at a loose ball well after the whistle was blown. Brooks shoved Demin earlier in the game and got a tech.

The Suns lead the Nets 104-102 with 1:14 remaining. Officials are going to the monitor for a… pic.twitter.com/9AmGhZcR0a

— Erik Slater (@erikslater_) January 28, 2026

SUNS VS. NETS GET INTO IT —

Assistant coaches were everywhere.

pic.twitter.com/6YW4xzDhGr

— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) January 28, 2026

Brooks had picked up a flagrant foul for hitting Nic Claxton below the belt in the first quarter. He was also assessed a technical for shoving Demin following a loose-ball foul in the second quarter.

Nets, Suns fight results in five techincal fouls and Ziaire Williams injury

Williams was hurt after being hit by a member of the Suns who was running to break up the scuffle. Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez gave his opinion on the situation postgame.

“Those are just guys protecting each other and fighting for each other,” Fernandez said. “I think they did a great job. You’re not gonna let any of your teammates get hit or pushed or anything. Obviously, there’s boundaries, and we don’t want anyone to get hurt, but you saw a few dirty plays. They called it or they didn’t call it. At the end of the day, I think it got out of hand because of that. But I like my guys sticking up for each other.”

“[Ziaire] is hurt. We don’t know exactly what it is right now. It was a member of the other team running in to break up the right and he ran into him and hurt him. Obviously, it was not intentional, but you gotta be careful with those things. So we’ll see what happens. We’ll see how long it is. Hopefully, it’s not a long time.”

Brooks has been in the middle of many scuffles throughout his career. The Suns forward’s technical foul on Tuesday marked his 15th of the season, the most in the NBA. He’s now one technical away from a one-game suspension.

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