JB Bickerstaff defends Isaiah Stewart protecting Jalen Duren

The Detroit Pistons cooled off one of the hottest teams in the NBA by winning Charlotte Hornets110-104. However, Art intense fight between four players overshadowed the Pistons’ road win.

Detroit Center Jalen Duren shoved Charlotte big man Moussa Diabat in the face after a hard foul in the third quarter. Both players exchanged swings as they were separated by coaches and teammates. Hornets forward Miles Bridges interfered with Duren’s shots during the fight, leading to Pistons center Isaiah Stewart to join the fight.

Detroit’s head coach went to bat for his boys during his postgame media session, defending how the conflict escalated.

“We don’t want to see it get to that point. But when you go back and watch the film, they were leading multiple guys in JD (Jalen Duren). JD and Stu (Isaiah Stewart) consider themselves brothers. If you’re leading two guys on one guy and you’ve already crossed the line, human instinct tells him to protect his little brother,” Bickersta explained. “I hate to see it again, but that’s the nature of what happened. I hate it for Stew’s sake because of the things that will follow. But we weren’t the ones who crossed the line and started this.”

Duren, Stewart, Diabate and Bridges were all sent off for their part in the brawl. Duren exited the arena folding his jersey, pointing to “Detroit” as he spoke to the crowd. Stewart was spotted walking to the dressing room, talking to the camerasstating, “Did you expect me to just stay on the bench?”

All players involved will likely be suspended for the altercation. The NBA is strict against fighting, especially when it involves a player leaving the bench. Duren even measured with the media about what he believed led to a poised fight after the game.

“Teams like to try to get in our heads. It’s not the first time teams have tried to be extra aggressive with us, talk to us, or whatever. As a group, we handled that energy and intensity well. At the end of the day, emotions ran high. Everyone was competitive, so things were happening; we all were.”

The Pistons end the Hornets’ winning streak

The brawl took a lot of attention away from a heated matchup between the two best teams in the Eastern Conference. Charlotte was riding a nine-game winning streak going into Monday night’s match. Detroit walked away victorious with its second straight victory to end Charlotte’s streak.

The Pistons led by as many as 16 points when visiting the Hornets. Detroit was able to survive a hot night from the Hornets, as they connected on 19 of 47 3-point attempts. The Pistons stuck to their game plan and identity by playing defense and offensively where they normally thrive.

The Pistons controlled the interior as they scored 60 points in the paint. Their defensive energy was on point, as they managed to get 12 steals and forced the Hornets into 21 turnovers.

All scorers were led by All-Star point guard Cade Cunningham with 33 points. He also grabbed nine rebounds and helped his teammates with seven assists.

Guard Duncan Robinson scored 18 points in 24 minutes for the Pistons. Duren gave up 15 points before being ejected. Reserve center Paul Reed was a key X-factor, scoring 12 points, grabbing two steals and pulling down one block.

The 39-13 Pistons return to action against the Raptors in Toronto on Wednesday night.