What was an altercation on November 19, 2004, at The Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan two years before the one between the New York Knicks and Denver Nuggets at Madison Square Garden?
Pacers–Pistons brawl The Pacers–Pistons brawl (colloquially known as the Malice at the Palace or Basketbrawl) was an altercation that occurred in a National Basketball Association (NBA) game between the Indiana Pacers and the Detroit Pistons on November 19, 2004, at The Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The Associated Press (AP) called it "the most infamous brawl in NBA history".
1995–96 Detroit Pistons season The 1995–96 NBA season was the Pistons' 48th season in the National Basketball Association, and 39th season in the city of Detroit. During the offseason, the Pistons hired Doug Collins as head coach while acquiring Otis Thorpe from the Portland Trail Blazers, who won a championship as a member of the Houston Rockets in the 1994 NBA Finals. Under Collins, the Pistons who were now led by second-year star Grant Hill and Allan Houston, played .500 basketball in the first half of the season, as the team signed free agent Michael Curry along the way. However, Joe Dumars' production would slip as he averaged just 11.8 points per game. The Pistons reemerged as a playoff contender finishing fifth in the Central Division with a 46–36 record, and returned to the playoffs after a three-year absence thanks to the stellar play of Hill, who was selected for the 1996 NBA All-Star Game.