CHARLOTTE, NC — A fight took place inside the Spectrum Center. Outside of the kerfuffle, the Detroit Pistons took care of business against the hottest team in the NBA.
The Pistons defeated the Charlotte Hornets on the road, 110-104, to improve to 39-13 overall. The Hornets had won nine consecutive games before Monday, but committed 21 turnovers while going against the Pistons’ suffocating defense. They scored 23 points off of those turnovers and also dominated the paint, with 60 points to Charlotte’s 26.
But the biggest story of the night was a third-quarter fight that led to four ejections — Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart for the Pistons, and Michigan State alumnus Miles Bridges and Michigan alumnus Moussa Diabate for the Hornets. Hornets head coach Charles Lee also was ejected in the fourth quarter after going after a referee.
Cade Cunningham led the Pistons with 33 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. Duncan Robinson added 18 points, and Duren scored 15 points in 20 minutes of an action. Paul Reed played 18-consecutive minutes to close out the game and scored 12 points. Brandon Miller led the Hornets with 24 points.
Detroit Pistons playoff picture
The win gave the Eastern Conference-leading Pistons a 5½-game lead over the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks, who are each 34-19. The Pistons will wrap up the first half of the season with a trip to Toronto to face the Raptors – who are fifth in the East at 32-22 – on Wednesday (7:30 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network Detroit). After that, Cade Cunningham, Jalen Duren and coach J.B. Bickerstaff will head west to LA for NBA All-Star Weekend at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California.
Duren, Stewart ejected in third period after fight
Stewart and Duren were ejected with 7:09 remaining in the period for the Pistons, and Bridges and Diabate were ejected for the Hornets. The altercation initially started with Duren and Diabate, who exchanged words after Diabate delivered a hard foul on him.
Duren shoved Diabate in the face, and Bridges responded by shoving Duren. Diabate then threw a punch at Duren, who responded with a punch of his own, though both missed, and Diabate had to be held back by coaches and teammates as he continued pursuing him.
A few moments later, Bridges broke free and landed a punch on Duren. That’s when Stewart got in the fold, running onto the floor from the bench and putting Bridges in a headlock. Teammates and coaches eventually were able to separate Stewart and Bridges. All four players were subsequently ejected.
The fight happened as the Pistons were pulling away, leading 71-62 after Duren replacement Paul Reed’s trip to the line following the ejections. The Pistons were on a 24-7 run, dating back to the second quarter, to eliminate an eight-point deficit.
Pistons stick to script as Hornets bomb 3s
The Hornets already had a massive lead in 3-point margin by halftime, knocking down 12 of their 25 attempts from deep (48%) against the Pistons’ paltry 2-for-13 (15.4%). Yet it was the Pistons who led at halftime, 61-57, due to them sticking to their strengths.
Charlotte launches 3-pointers at one of the highest rates in the league and also has had a hot offense during their nine-game winning streak. The Pistons don’t take many 3-pointers but have owned the league’s No. 1 defense since Dec. 1; they eventually found their groove on offense toward the end of the second quarter, which they closed with a 14-2 run.
They held the Hornets to 9-for-25 overall shooting (36%) in the second period and took the lead thanks to dominating the points in the paint (32-10) and forcing nine turnovers, off which they scored 12 points. Charlotte converted several tough 3-point attempts but only had five points off of four Pistons turnovers and converted just six of their 16 attempts inside the arc.
It also helped that the Pistons had the best player on the floor. Cunningham stepped up with 19 points, six assists and five rebounds in the first half, making seven of his 14 attempts.
The Pistons held the Hornets to just 33.3% shooting in the second and third periods (15-for-45 overall) and led by as many as 16, 85-69, before a late Hornets run cut it to four points in the final two minutes. Charlotte cooled off from the arc in the second half, making seven of 20 attempts (35%) after knocking down nine of 16 in the first quarter.
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Contact Omari Sankofa II at osankofa@freepress.com. Follow him on Bluesky and/or X @omarisankofa.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Pistons fight off stinging Hornets for 110-104 victory