Suns, Nets ends with skirmish, five technicals and Dillon Brooks on the ground

Dillon Brooks has gotten under the skin of a lot of players over the years, now we can add Nets rookie Egor Demin to the list.

Tensions in a physical game between the Suns and Nets boiled over with just over a minute to go during a scramble for a loose ball.

It was a two-point game, 104-102, with 1:14 remaining, so players were going all-out. After a scramble, Ziaire Williams and Brooks both had their hands on the ball, a whistle blew signaling a jump ball, Brooks didn't stop trying to pull the ball away, and that is when the rookie Demin walked up to defend his teammate and shoved Brooks to the ground.

Then it was on, with Grayson Allen, Royce O'Neal, Michael Porter Jr., Terance Mann, and more assistant coaches than anyone thought were at this game jumping into the fray to break things up. In all that, Porter shoved Suns assistant Demarre Carroll

Once things were calmed down and the referees reviewed the footage, five technicals were handed out: Demin, Mann, Porter, O'Neale and Allen.

"I just had to get him off Ziaire," Demin said postgame about 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."

"They were playing real physical. We were, too, but I think they were taking it to another level," Suns center Mark Williams said, via Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. "It was definitely built up."

Brooks had gotten a technical for pushing Demin earlier in the game, that's his 15th of the season, one short of an automatic one-game suspension from the league.

Williams scored 27 on the night to lead the Suns to a 106-102 victory.