Matt Barnes and Greg Stiemsma start scuffles between Timberwolves and Clippers

Things are getting very heated in Minnesota tonight between the Timberwolvesand the Clippers. Midway through the second quarter, Clippers forward Matt Barnes took offense to a screen from Timberwolves center Greg Stiemsma. In return, he gave Stiemsma a shove to the neck. The result was a flagrant two, an immediate ejection. This is Barnes’ second ejection of the season.

Emotions running high, Stiemsma returned with his own dangerous play, pushing Grant Hill while he was in the air jumping for a rebound. Caron Butler, Ronny Turiaf andJamal Crawford quickly crowded Stiemsma, who would get a flagrant foul type one.

This is certainly not the first case of enforcer behavior from Barnes, who has a history of sketchy behavior, from faking an inbounds pass to Kobe Bryant’s face to punching a player in a Pro-Am game. As for Stiemsma, we know he plays physical and with a high energy level, but this kind of play is far from the norm.

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