A Friday game between the Detroit Pistons and Cleveland Cavaliers was delayed roughly 13 minutes after an arena horn short-circuited and couldn’t be turned off.
The disruption took place with seven minutes, 24 seconds remaining in the third quarter and forced fans and players to withstand the horn booming inside the arena.
The issue was due to a “complete malfunction, electrical wise,” according to ESPN sideline reporter Jorge Sedano. Arena staff soon realized the issue was with the horn on top of the giant video board rather than anything at the scorers table. There was a risk the scoreboard itself would need to come down to the floor to be fixed, according to the ESPN broadcast, but the issue was ultimately solved before that became necessary.
After what felt like much longer than 13 minutes between the buzzer and the music blaring over it, longtime Pistons PA announcer John Mason let patrons know they’d have to turn the video board off entirely and use an air horn to denote stoppages. But shortly after the game resumed, the video board turned back on, and the buzzer was fixed.
The Pistons issued the following statement: “There was a horn malfunction in the center hung scoreboard at the 7:24 mark of the third quarter. After multiple attempts to shut down and restart the main timing system, power was cut to the scoreboard and the horn was disabled. The game was then restarted using a manual back-up horn.”
The Pistons-Cavs game was delayed over 10 minutes because the arena horn wouldn’t turn off 🔊
🎥 @SportsCenter pic.twitter.com/Ko3zvf4p91
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) February 28, 2026
Surprisingly, few of the fans in attendance even attempted to plug their ears as arena workers attempted to drown out the horn with loud music. It felt more like a party than a mishap after a while. Some fans even posed to take photos rather than complain. Players from both teams got shots up to stay warm as a bulk of fans beelined for the bars. There was even a baby shown on the video board who was somehow sleeping through the raucous noise.
It lasted a total of 10 to 15 minutes before the entire video board had to be shut off to stop the horn.
Finally, after Mason let fans know there was an electrical circuit issue and the video board would be inoperable for the remainder of the game, the crowd broke out in a collective cheer as the buzzer finally turned off and basketball could resume.
Naturally, Cade Cunningham scored the first bucket out of the stoppage to give the Pistons a 67-64 lead.