Other than the finger-pointing and kiss-blowing, the six technical fouls and two ejections, the phenomenal third-quarter shooting, the near boxing match between Dennis Rodman and Jerry Sloan, and the stunning night by Isiah Thomas . . . not much happened Friday night at the Palace.
Just another nasty night with the Nasty Boys.Detroit made 17 of 21 shots in the third quarter to hold off a furious Jazz rally as the Pistons took a 123-115 win.
While Thomas was indisputably great, scoring 44 points, the featured event of the night involved Sloan and Rodman.
The game picked up speed in the third quarter, when both teams went into a trance, making almost everything they put up. The Jazz ended the period making 75 percent of their shots, Detroit 81 percent.
The Pistons led 87-82 going into the final period.
The trouble began with Detroit up 95-85 when the Jazz's John Stockton fought through a Rodman screen, and both went to the floor. What ensued got everyone's attention.
After falling down together, both jumped up and began pushing toward one another. Sloan charged across the court and exchanged shouts with Rodman. Sloan and Rodman were separated by the officials, as Rodman shouted, "Come on!" and the two beckoned at one another.
"It was one of those things where I was worried about John. He gets over the screen and it looked to me like he (Rodman) pulled John down," said Sloan.
He later added, "The only situation I saw is he threw Stockton on the floor."
Stockton, however, said he was at fault. "He set the screen on me and I knocked him down," said Stockton. "After that the refs were basically trying to keep the peace."
It didn't work.
"It was just a foul between me and Stockton," said Rodman.
Stockton and Rodman were called for a double-technical. When things calmed down somewhat, Rodman made an attempt to shake hands with Sloan, but Sloan slapped away Rodman's hand.
"It's part of the coach's job and sometimes it can get ugly looking out for your players," said Sloan. "I don't have to shake hands with anybody. It's not a love match out there."
"I told him it was a physical game and I wanted to shake his hand," said Rodman. "But he didn't want to shake mine. He's a great competitor. He wants his guys to win. We're both professionals. It's over now."
Rodman made one of two personal fouls, then pointed tauntingly at Sloan. Sloan blew back a kiss.
Rodman was hit with another technical and tossed from the game, as Sloan watched with a slightly amused look. Rodman marched over toward Sloan and then left the arena.
In the confusion, Pistons' assistant Brendan Suhr drew two technicals and was ejected. Stockton made all three technicals to pull the Jazz to a 96-88 deficit.
Finally, Bill Laimbeer made a technical - which was charged to Sloan - and the game resumed.
The Jazz pulled within six but never got closer as Thomas continued on his way to his best night since he hit a career-high 47 points in the 1983-1984 season.
"He's sensational," said Sloan of Thomas. "It was a great game and he's a great player. He's always a tough guy to deal with."
Regardless of Thomas's spectacular night, he wasn't the Jazz's worst problem. The Jazz were out-boarded 44-33 on the night, losing the rebound war for the second straight game.
"I was more upset about the way we rebounded than anything," said Sloan. "They killed us on the boards."
At one stage, Rodman had 13 rebounds and the entire Jazz team had only 17.
Lost in all the woofing and posturing of the fourth quarter were several intriguing sub-plots. Jazz guard Jeff Malone harrassed Joe Dumars into a 4-for-9, 12-point night, while scoring 25 of his own. And in the long-awaited Stockton-Thomas matchup, Thomas got 44 points and two assists, but Stockton had 20 points and 13 assists.
"He and I always have great duels," said Thomas. "I respect his talent and leadership. He's a great player. I didn't try to prove anything tonight. I feel everyone on the Olympic team deserves to be there and I wish them the best of luck."
Rookie Eric Murdock scored 12 points in 13 minutes.
Utah faces Washington tonight in Landover. The game will be televised on PSN beginning at 5 p.m.
"Forget all that other (expletive) that went on," said the Mailman. "The thing is, we basically didn't get the job done on the rebounding end. All the rest is just sandlot kind of stuff."