On Wednesday’s game between Indiana Pacers and the Chicago Bulls spirits flared up 3 minutes and 51 seconds before the second quarter ended. Indiana’s Troy Murphy responded to Bulls’ Tyrus Thomas’ rough foul by shoving him in the face. The other players from the two teams were forced to intervene, before the altercation could become more serious.

“We thank Murph for that” said Jermaine O’Neal, center for Pacers. “We appreciate Murph getting thrown out of the game, getting us going […] We obviously know that coach is a high-energy type of guy, and obviously, we feel the way we feel about our teammates. Anytime you get a combination of both, guts are going to focus and try to get a win for both those guys,” said O’Neal, referring to Indiana’s coach Jim O’Brien, who was called for a technical foul.

It wasn’t until the third quarter that the Pacers took off, with a 15-2 run when Bulls were leading 58-56. With 7:28 minutes left in the quarter, Indiana was leading the Bulls with 71-60. Pacers finished 117-102 to the Bulls, following an incident that appears to have motivated them to win the game.

In other games, Raptors took over the Mavericks with 92-76, and won the first game against the Dallas team in 4 years; Celtics beat the Kings 90-78, which still keeps them unbeaten at home; Pistons lose to the Rockets 77-80 and Toronto still remains the only team to not have a free throw in a regular-season game; Bobcats – Clippers 108 – 103, a second victory for the Bobcats in the last 10 games; the Bucks beat Magic 100-86, with a 27 points, 10 rebounds and 9 assists Michael Redd who helps his team break the last four games’ bad luck; 4 wins in a row for the 76ers, who beat Timberwolves 98-94, leaving them with 3 victories in 17 games; and Carmelo Anthony scores 32 points, including a three-point play 38.4 seconds before the end of the game, leading the Nuggets to victory against Hornets 105-99.