David Harrison of the Indiana Pacers was hit several times in the stands while trying to break up the mayhem. He said Artest responded instinctively.
"If someone is throwing something at you with intent to harm you, you're going to defend yourself," he said. "It doesn't matter if the person is a fan or whatever. I just wonder what would happen if we went to where they work and harassed them for 48 minutes to an hour and then threw a beer at them when they were trying to leave. We'd go to jail."
Matters continued to be dangerous as the Pacers left the Palace.
"There was a time at the bus where they were telling us to turn off the lights because they were afraid people would shoot at our bus," Harrison said.
Harrison dismissed the notion that because the players are paid handsomely they should be able to deal with such situations.
"We endured the verbal abuse, did we not?" he said. "We do not get paid millions of dollars to get stuff thrown at us. Nobody gets paid to money to get stuff thrown at you unless you're a circus clown sitting in a booth. That's not our job."