Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – Cade Cunningham scored 33 points as the Detroit Pistons ended the Charlotte Hornets’ nine-game winning streak on Monday with a stormy 110-104 victory overshadowed by a mass brawl that saw four players ejected. A bruising clash between the Eastern Conference-leading Pistons and the red-hot Hornets erupted into mayhem midway through the third quarter when Charlotte’s Moussa Diabate fouled Detroit’s Jalen Duren.
Diabate and Duren went forehead-to-forehead, and Duren angrily shoved his opponent away with a hand to the face. That was the cue for a melee that saw scuffles and punches being thrown all over the court. After a delay of several minutes, the officiating crew ejected Duren and Detroit team-mate Isaiah Stewart along with Charlotte pair Diabate and Miles Bridges. Stewart had sprinted off the bench to join the fight, attempting to aim a blow at Bridges, who had thrown a punch at Duren as tempers flared.
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There was a further flashpoint in the fourth quarter when Hornets head coach Charles Lee was ejected after reacting furiously at a foul given against his team. Lee needed to be restrained by other members of the Charlotte coaching staff before being led off the court.
– ‘They crossed the line’ –
Lee later praised his team’s performance after they went toe-to-toe with the Pistons for long periods of the contest. “That was a freaking great game for us,” Lee said. “They are the number one team in the East and they bring a level of physicality and competitiveness to them. I think that overall our guys responded to every run that they went on, and all the physicality.”
Asked about the clash between Diabate and Duren that triggered the fight, Lee said: “Two guys got in a heated conversation and then it kind of spiraled from there.” Of his own ejection in the fourth quarter, Lee added: “I gotta have a little bit better emotional control in that moment.”
Detroit coach J.B. Bickerstaff pinned the blame for the flashpoint squarely on Charlotte’s players, saying Duren had been defending himself. “Our guys deal with a lot right?” Bickerstaff said. “But they’re not the ones that initiated it…they crossed the line. I hate that it got as ugly as it got. That’s not something you ever want to see. But if a guy throws a punch at you, you have a responsibility to protect yourself and that’s what happened tonight. Go back and watch the film. They’re the ones that initiated crossing the line and our guy had to defend himself.”
Detroit’s victory lifted them to 39-13 at the top of the Eastern Conference standings, clear of the second-placed New York Knicks (34-19). Charlotte remain in 10th place on 25-29. There were more ejections elsewhere Monday, with the Minnesota Timberwolves’ Naz Reid and Atlanta’s Mo Gueye getting tossed during an ugly melee in the fourth quarter of their game, which ended in a 138-116 victory for Minnesota.
In Los Angeles, the Oklahoma City Thunder improved to 41-13 with a 119-110 defeat of the Lakers. Jalen Williams led the scoring with 23 points for the reigning NBA champions, who were once again missing the injured Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
In Denver, Donovan Mitchell finished with 32 points and James Harden added 22 as the Cleveland Cavaliers overcame a triple-double performance from Nikola Jokic to defeat the Nuggets 119-117. Jokic finished with 22 points, 14 rebounds, and 11 assists for Denver. The Orlando Magic downed the Milwaukee Bucks 118-99 while the Utah Jazz upset the Miami Heat 115-111. The Brooklyn Nets (15-37) also scored an upset with a 123-115 defeat of the Chicago Bulls.
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