DETROIT — Friday night’s game between the Pistons and Cleveland Cavaliers was delayed for 18 minutes in the third quarter by a blaring horn after a power surge caused the overhead scoreboard to malfunction.
During a timeout with the Pistons leading 65-64 in a 122-119 overtime victory, the horn sounded to signal the teams to return to the floor. However, it kept blasting despite frantic work from workers at Little Caesars Arena.
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The teams returned to the benches for a few minutes and were eventually told to go back on the floor to warm up. After 13 minutes, the arena staff shut down the entire overhead scoreboard, and the horn stopped to loud cheers. The scoring crew used a manual air horn when play resumed.
The officials brought Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff and Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson to midcourt for a brief discussion before announcing the game would resume without the main scoreboard. However, moments after the game got back underway, the scoreboard came back on.
