The Charlotte Hornets played the top team in the Eastern Conference, and unfortunately, emotions got the best of several players in the heated match.
A huge brawl took the spotlight, which included the Hornets’ Moussa Diabate and Miles Bridges fighting with the Detroit Pistons‘ recently-named NBA All-Star, Jalen Duren. Coaches and other players tried to intervene to hold their teammates back, but it wasn’t enough to prevent the ejections.
In total, there were four individuals ejected from the game, as referees first ejected Diabate, Bridges, and Duren for their fight in the third quarter.
Not long after the player ejections, emotions got the best of Hornets head coach Charles Lee, who the referees tossed from the game for arguing too much.
While the player ejections occurred in the game’s third quarter, Lee was ejected in the fourth quarter of a close contest between his Hornets and the visiting Pistons.
Charlotte nearly pulled off a stunning comeback but fell short, losing 110-106. They outscored Detroit in the game's opening and closing quarters, with the fight and ejections also playing a big part in the outcome.
Bridges had just six points, four rebounds, and one assist before getting tossed from the game, while Diabate recorded just six rebounds and no points. Duren was on his way to potentially a 20-plus point performance, recording just 15 points, five rebounds, two assists, and a steal before his ejection.
"I'll have to go back and watch it again. Just looked like a ton of physicality and two guys kind of got in a heated conversation, and then it spiraled from there," Lee said at a postgame press conference about his perspective of the fight.
A reporter also asked the Hornets coach about what led to his ejection, which occurred with just under six minutes left in the fourth quarter.
“I take ownership of it. I thought that we were competing our tails off. I thought that it was a very physical game, and Grant’s walking down the paint and barely touched somebody, and the guy fell over, and that’s what we were gonna call a foul,” he said.
He indicated the referees have a demanding job when it comes to making critical calls, but felt that particular foul call didn’t match the “consistency” of how they called the rest of the game.
All of the ejections after the Pistons and Hornets brawl were costly, and Charlotte still nearly pulled off the upset over the top team in the conference. Instead, they dropped to 25-29 in a disappointing game, marred by the fight.
Most likely, the NBA will impose additional penalties, such as fines and/or game suspensions, which will cost everyone involved even more.
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