Bench-Clearing Pistons-Hornets Brawl Ends In Punches & Headlocks

The NBA is approaching the All-Star break with a bang.

We’ve finally got our first proper brawl of the season, and it came between the Detroit Pistons and Charlotte Hornets.

With about seven minutes left in the third quarter, Jalen Duren was backing down Moussa Diabate in the paint when he fouled him. So Duren turned around so they were face-to-face and appeared to headbutt him before pushing him in the face. 

Whistles start to sound as team staff run onto the floor and hold Diabate back as he tries to swing on Duren. Diabate finesses and spins his way out of the hold and almost gets a hold of Duren again before he’s wrapped up again. 

As the Hornets attempt to calm Diabate down and walk him to the sidelines, his teammate Miles Bridges keeps tempers high by mouthing off in Duren’s direction while at half-court.

But in return, Duren also had a teammate who was about that action: Isaiah Stewart came off the bench, ran onto the court to confront Bridges, and immediately tried to hit him with a right hook. Bridges ducked, but according to ESPN, Stewart put Bridges in a headlock and proceeded to punch him in the head several times.

Duren, being the initiator, spoke on the brawl after the game, and chalked it up to being an “overly competitive” game, and since opposing teams had been trying to “get in our head” all season, he knew he couldn’t let them punk him out.

“This isn’t the first time that people have tried to be like extra aggressive with us and talk to us, whatever the case may be,” Duren said. “But as a group, we have done an OK job of handling that energy and intensity. At the end of the day, emotions got high with everybody being competitive. Things happen.”

We didn’t get to hear from the other participants because the hornets didn’t make Bridges and Diabate available for post-game interviews. 

Bridges did, however, address it on Instagram, writing, “Sorry Hornets nation! Sorry Hornets Organization.! Always gonna protect my teammates forever.”

The suspensions and fines haven’t been announced yet, but we’re sure they’ll be hefty. See how social media is reacting to the fight below.