The Charlotte Hornets and Detroit Pistons made waves on Monday. The teams got involved in a nasty brawl that spread out all over the basketball floor. Hornets star Brandon Miller was quick to move on from talking about it with reporters postgame.
“What was it like? It was fun. Next question,” Miller said postgame to reporters.
The Pistons ended up winning the game, 110-104. Things got heated though when Pistons star Jalen Duren got involved in a hard contact situation with Hornets big man Moussa Diabate. This happened in the third quarter. Duren was fouled, and the two soon got into each other's faces.
Things quickly escalated. Pushing and shoving began and other players soon got involved. It took several people to get the fight calmed down.
Four players in total were ejected from the game. Diabate and Duren were tossed, as well as two other players. It was a tough situation, and later in the game Hornets head coach Charles Lee was also ejected.
“Emotions were flaring,” Duren said, per the Associated Press. “At the end of the day, we would love to keep it basketball, but things happen. Everybody was just playing hard.”
The loss snapped Charlotte's nine-game winning streak.
Pistons were able to defeat the Hornets despite the brawl
Tempers were definitely high for the rest of the game, after that brawl. Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff addressed the situation postgame.
“Our guys deal with a lot, but they're not the ones that initiated, they're not the ones who crossed the line tonight,” Bickerstaff said. “It was clear, through frustration, because of what J.D. [Duren] was doing, that they crossed the line. 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. That's what happened tonight. If you go back and watch the film, they're the ones who initiated crossing the line, and our guy had to defend himself.”
The Hornets are now 25-29 on the season following the loss.
