Five greatest NBA fights of all time

#4. Pacers vs. Pistons

The NBA's most infamous brawl

Undoubtedly the biggest brawl the NBA has ever witnessed, the infamous match between the Pacers and Pistons in November of 2004 was never going to be overlooked.

It all started when the pugnacious Ron Artest fouled Ben Wallace beneath the rim. Wallace responded with a strong shove, leading to a commotion between the teams. Somehow, Artest left Wallace and his teammate Stephen Jackson to sort things out with their physicality, and walked away to the announcers' table, where he lay down and struck a pose.

That should have been all from Artest, but some bright Piston fan decided to throw a cup at the steaming player, who immediately ran into the crowd to begin an assault on the said fan. Jackson should have probably recognised that it was time to draw the line and pull his colleague away, but he seemed to relish the opportunity to get a few in himself.

Even after the players retreated to the court and things seemed to simmer down, a couple of fans still found themselves at the receiving end of punches from Artest and Jackson.

To be honest though, it would have been pretty hard for anyone to keep calm under such circumstances.