Pistons, Hornets Game
Chaos Erupts
… Massive Brawl Breaks Out
Published
Monday night’s showdown between the Hornets and Pistons descended into chaos after a wild brawl broke out on the hardwood … resulting it multiple players being ejected, after coaches and officials were finally able to restore peace!
It all went down with 7:09 remaining in the third quarter after Hornets forward Moussa Diabate was fouled by Jalen Duren. The two then went chest-to-chest … before Duren put his hand in Diabate’s face and shoved him away.
Diabate then lunged at the Pistons’ third-year veteran, taking a swing at him as players and coaches tried to restrain him. He eventually broke free and tried to put hands on Duren, but was pushed back toward the baseline.
So, peace restored? Yeah, right.
All of a sudden, near midcourt … Miles Bridges and Isaiah Stewart started going at it after Stewart came flying in from the Pistons bench, with the announcers saying punches were thrown in that scuffle, too.
Stewart tried to get around the wall built to separate the two — but had no luck — and was walked back to the bench by Cade Cunningham.
After finally getting control of the situation, four players in total were ejected from the contest … Stewart, Bridges, Duren, and Diabate, and you can bet (well, maybe don’t) the NBA will be reaching out to those players involved.
Isaiah Stewart post ejection saying in so many words, “you don’t expect me to stand on the bench” pic.twitter.com/3PqNo8gzbg
— Nick Carboni (@NickCarboniWCNC) February 10, 2026
@NickCarboniWCNC
Footage from the tunnel caught Stewart being escorted back to the locker room, but he didn’t seem remorseful for his actions, telling a Pistons staffer, “You’re not expecting me to stand on the bench.”
Isaiah is no stranger to mid-game scuffles … he was involved in a viral scrap back in 2021 — going after LeBron James after taking an elbow to the face.
Back to Monday night … Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff defended his players for their actions, saying they had a right to protect themselves after Bridges threw the first shot.
Detroit Pistons
“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, they crossed the line. 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.”
