With the NBA Cup tournament in full swing, all teams are aiming for glory. That could often lead to things getting heated on the court because of the high stakes involved. Well, that’s exactly what happened during tonight’s Nets vs Hornets encounter as a tussle between fellow Australians Ben Simmons and Josh Green led to an escalated altercation between both teams. And the announcers gave Simmons an earful as Brandon Miller called him out for his controversial antics.

The incident occurred during the opening minutes of the third quarter as Simmons was bringing the ball down the court. Well, Green reached in to pick his pocket, but the Nets star avoided the steal by charging at Green with a shoulder bump followed by a shove. Sure enough, Josh hit the deck hard and the officials blew the whistle. Surprisingly, the foul was called on Green despite him taking the majority of the impact. And the announcers could not hide their shock as one remarked, “Yeah, you shoved my guy down.” While other said, “Foul’s called on Green. That’s a foul on Josh Green somehow.”

Meanwhile, the issue escalated on the court as Miller shoved Simmons to call him out on his act and the two stars got into a verbal altercation. Even Miles Bridges joined in to defend his teammate and all players had to be separated by team staff and officials. As expected, both Simmons and Miller were penalized with a technical foul for their heated encounter. Well, Simmons bulldozing through Green does come as a surprise because they are good friends and share the common connection of being born in Australia and representing its national team.

Moreover, Green also revealed in an interview that Simmons and his family helped him a lot when he first moved to America, “It was good to have somebody who you looked up to as a kid. They helped me out a lot, you know, adjusting to American life.”

Tensions were building between Ben Simmons and Brandon Miller from a previous heated play

Although Miller got in Simmons’ face to defend his teammate, there were some added emotions behind his reaction because of another play. Yes, just minutes before the hard bump to Green, Simmons also dunked through the Hornets defense, his first flush of the season. But as he was running back to his side of the court, Miller got in his way and the two stars bumped shoulders. Now, it is not clear if Miller intentionally got in Simmons’ way, but that led to the Nets star confronting him.

Sure enough, there was tension building between them from that moment and it eventually led to both players getting a tech minutes later. Simmons got the last laugh as his team bagged a one-point victory. However, his performance was not very impressive as usual, as he finished with only ten points. But a win is a win nevertheless and Simmons would be happy to get the dub after the heated game.