(TMZ) Cops rushed in to break up a heated late night exchange between several members of the Indiana Pacers and a pack of angry clubgoers in Orlando early Thursday morning ... and the whole thing was caught on tape. TMZ obtained footage ... showing 7'1" Kyrylo Fesenko confronting a group of people outside of Club 23 around 2:45 AM.
Sources at the scene tell us ... the whole thing began when one of the clubgoers angrily accused Kyrylo of "bumping into him" ... and then unleashed a flurry of verbal attacks at the NBA star.
As Kyrylo tried to walk away from the situation ... the mob grew in numbers and the taunts became louder.
That's when Kyrylo's teammate Danny Granger charged towards the clubgoers ... only to be restrained by some of his friends.
Multiple bike cops peddled to the scene and diffused the situation ... with Granger and Kyrylo calmly walking away without further incident.
FYI -- the Pacers were in town for a playoff game against the Orlando Magic ... and after the incident, a cop jokingly says to the camera guy if he would have known that Pacers were involved in the dust up he would have arrested the guys. Clearly, a Magic fan.
A rep for the Pacers tells TMZ ... "Our players were provoked into a verbal confrontation and ended up walking away from the confrontation. To make something more out of this than what it was is ludicrous." See video here.
