The Detroit Pistons were part of another major on-court altercation on Monday night
Even though the major bench-clearing brawl in the third quarter of the Pistons and Hornets contest will dominate the post-game discourse, there actually was a basketball game played on Monday night in between the fiery clashes.
From a matchup perspective, Detroit point guard Cade Cunningham did not take long to jump into a rhythm in a game that he later revealed was dedicated to his late high school coach, Allen Gratts, who passed away last night. In the first half, Cunningham logged 19 points, six assists and five rebounds before all the fireworks kicked off in the second half.
Once the brawl kicked off, an already physical game took a dramatic shift into an impromptu fight at center court. At first, Hornets forward Moussa Diabate ripped through staffers and teammates to chase after Jalen Duren, who pushed Diabate’s face moments earlier.
Shortly after that, Duren continued walking away before Hornets forward Miles Bridges darted over to throw a cheap shot at the All-Star center. Right after that happened, pandemonium broke loose as Isaiah Stewart charged onto the court and fired off a couple punches in Bridges’ direction after placing the Michigan State grad in a brief headlock.
“I’m pretty sure that everybody wanted to help JD out there, even the guys on the bench,” Pistons forward Paul Reed said after the game. “We’ve got each other’s back 100,000%, but we’ve got to play basketball games. We’ve got to win games, so we can’t all just crash out. Someone’s got to stay poised, stay in the moment and understand what’s at stake.”
Reed played a crucial role for the Pistons after Duren and Stewart were both ejected from the game. Since Detroit was forced into a shorthanded situation, Reed stepped up when the Pistons needed a big performance considering Charlotte’s nine-game winning streak entering the contest. Reed eventually finished with 12 points, three rebounds, two blocks, two steals and an assist in perhaps his most clutch moment of the season.
Once all the dust settled, Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff issued clear support for his players, stating that Duren was not an instigator in the fracas while also implying that Stewart sought to defend his teammate. The league will likely have a different interpretation of Beef Stew's activity, but the Detroit head coach completely backs his players.
As for Cunningham, Detroit’s All-Star starter posted 33 points, nine rebounds and seven assists when the heated contest eventually wrapped up. Despite all the chaos, Cunningham was able to corral his teammates’ emotions just enough to produce a six-point victory.
After the game, Duren offered his perspective on the fight, which will likely lead to a lengthy suspension for Stewart.
“As the year has been going on, teams like to try to get in our head,” Duren said. “This isn’t the first time people have tried to be extra aggressive with us, talk to us or whatever the case may be. I think as a group we’ve done an okay job of handling that energy and intensity, but at the end of the day, like I said, emotions got high. Everybody’s being competitive, so things happen.”
If there were any doubts heading into the game, this year’s Pistons squad is thick as thieves. Starting a problem with one Detroit player is likely to lead to a problem with all the Detroit players.
The Pistons demonstrated as much against the Hornets.
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