The late game between the Minnesota Timberwolves and Utah Jazz was everything but calm.
The tension started early on, when T-Wolves all-star Karl-Anthony Towns was automatically ejected late 2nd quarter for two technical fouls.
The real tension came late in the game, where Jeff Teague was assessed a flagrant two foul for this play:
Teague was automatically ejected, but minutes after this, his teammate Jimmy Butler took to Twitter to back him up, but express his issues with the Jazz as well:
It is worth noting that Jimmy Butler’s last published tweet was New Year’s Eve, 2016.
Butler was having a solid all-star season (22.2 PPG, 5.0 APG) but is out for the remainder of the season after tearing his meniscus right after the all-star break. The second tweet was in response to Utah SF Jae Crowder, who participated in a verbal altercation with Timberwolves head coach Tom Thibodeau.
https://twitter.com/rickm18/status/969817027748642816
Crowder allegedly started the bickering, and Thibodeau gladly returned the favor here.
The Jazz had the last laugh, however, emerging victorious 116-108. They improve to 32-30, while the Timberwolves drop to 38-28.