The Clippers entered the final day of the NBA’s regular season against the Suns with several different playoff scenarios still in play. With a lot riding on the result of Sunday’s game, tensions appeared to spill over between teammates Mason Plumlee and Bones Hyland on the bench.
As the team walked over to the bench, Hyland said something in Plumlee’s direction. When Plumlee turned around quickly to respond to Hyland, the pair got in each other’s faces, and a brief shoving match broke out. Norman Powell and Terance Mann got in between and separated the two as cooler heads prevailed.
Mason Plumlee and Bones Hyland got into it on the Clippers bench. pic.twitter.com/q9OqienLLt
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) April 9, 2023
Depending on the outcome of Sunday’s game, the Clippers could have ended up as the Nos. 5, 6 or 7 seeds. They ended up hanging on for a 119–114 win over Phoenix to secure the No. 5 spot, and will now face the Suns in the first round of the playoffs.
Plumlee scored six of his nine points during the fourth quarter following the dust-up—including one on an assist from Hyland—as Los Angeles erased a four-point deficit, so it appears as if the pair was able to set their differences aside to finish the regular season on a high note.
