Pistons All-Star Jalen Duren Gets Into Brawl With Hornets Moussa Diabate

The Detroit Pistons and Charlotte Hornets got into a huge brawl Monday night that included four player ejections.

The altercation happened in the third quarter after Hornets’ forward Moussa Diabate had a hard foul on Pistons’ center Jalen Duren as he was going up for a shot. This led to the two meeting face-to-face and exchanging words before Duren shoved Diabate, triggering chaos. Diabate charged at Duren before swinging a punch as he was held back by assistant coaches. This prompted Hornets’ Miles Bridges to get involved and throw a punch at Duren. Pistons’ Isaiah Stewart, who was on the bench, sprinted onto the court to get into it with Miles Bridges, exchanging blows.

After a lengthy review, the referees ejected Duren, Stewart, Bridges and Diabate. There will almost certainly be suspensions as the league begins to look into the altercation. Stewart will most likely face a heavy punishment, as coming off the bench to get into a scuffle usually leads to a multiple-game suspension and hefty fines.

Hornets coach Charles Lee was also ejected later in the contest for rushing at an official.

Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff spoke to the media after the game about the altercation, saying, “I hate that it got as ugly as it got. That’s not something that 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. If you go back and watch the film, they’re the ones that initiated crossing the line, and our guy had to defend himself,” Bickerstaff said, placing the blame on the Hornets.

The Pistons led 70-62 at the time of the ejections and went on to win 110-104, ending the Hornets’ nine-game win streak.

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Article by Sam Lanier