The Pistons coach claimed that his team didn't cross the line and that Stewart only attempted to protect Duren.
J.B. Bickerstaff has taken a stance to protect his Detroit Pistons team from the ugly event that unfolded on Monday evening in Charlotte against the Hornets.
Detroit Pistons / Schedule
For the Pistons head coach, it was the Hornets who started the fight, and his group simply acted in defense.
"Our guys deal with a lot, right? But they’re not the ones that initiated. They’re not the ones that crossed the line tonight," he told reporters after their 110-104 win over Charlotte. "It was clear, through frustration because of what [Jalen Duren] was doing, that [Charlotte] crossed the line. And 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. You go back and watch the film, they’re the ones that initiated crossing the line, and our guy had to defend himself."
With 7:09 remaining in the third quarter, Diabate fouled Duren. As they butted heads, Duren then shoved Diabate in the face with his right hand, prompting players from both teams to rush in as the benches cleared to separate them.
As Hornets staff tried to restrain Diabate, Miles Bridges continued confronting Duren on the other end. Moments later, Stewart stormed the court despite not being in the game and went after the Hornets star.
All four players involved from the frackass earned automatic ejections from the officials.
"You see it one way, I see it another way. Obviously, again, I repeat, we don’t want to see it get to that point. But when you go back and watch the film, they ran multiple guys at JD. JD and Stew consider themselves to be brothers, and if you run two guys at one guy and you’ve already crossed the line, human instinct tells him to protect his little brother," the Detroit mentor argued.
"Again, I hate to see it, but that’s the nature of what happened. So I hate it for Stew because of the things that are going to follow, but again, we weren’t the ones that crossed the line tonight and initiated this."
Both the Hornets and the Pistons are set to meet again in Charlotte on Apr. 10.
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