Everything the Pistons and Hornets Said After Brawl That Saw Four Players Ejected

The physicality on the court boiled over on Monday night between the Pistons and Hornets, escalating to the point of punches being thrown and four players getting ejected.

While both sides were getting after each other all night, the thing that finally set off the fight was a hard foul by Moussa Diabaté on Jalen Duren. The foul led to a shove, the shove led to a punch. Suddenly a chaotic scrum had broken out with players from both sides getting involved, either as a part of the action or an attempt to break it up, with Diabaté continuing his pursuit until he was eventually quelled by a combination of his teammates and team security.

Just as it felt like the sides were beginning to exhale, Pistons guard Isaiah Stewart jumped from the bench and went after Miles Bridges, who had thrown a punch at Duren in the initial skirmish. The sides had to be separated a second time.

When the dust cleared, four players—Diabaté, Duren, Bridges and Stewart—were ejected. Hornets coach Charles Lee followed them with an ejection of his own in the fourth quarter.

When the skirmish began, the Pistons held a 70–62 lead with seven minutes left to play in the third quarter. The Hornets would come close to completing the comeback, but ultimately Detroit left with a 110–104 road victory.

After such a dramatic on-court situation, coaches and players from both sides had plenty to say. As we wait for suspensions to be doled out, take a look at what the main players in Monday night’s fracas had to say after the game.

Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff was adamant that the Hornets crossed the line first

Detroit Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff during the first quarter against the Charlotte Hornets. | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

Unsurprisingly, Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff was quick to defend his players, arguing that his side had played physically, but within the bounds of basketball, until the Hornets escalated to a point where a fight was inevitable.

“I thought our guys did a great job of playing within the lines. Our big guys in particular, on a night-by-night basis, deal with a lot, right?” Bickerstaff said. “They’re treated differently as far as what’s allowed to them physically. If you go back and watch our games in the trenches, those guys get beat up night in and night out. And they do a great job of maintaining their composure.

“Our guys deal with a lot, but they’re not [the] ones that initiated it. They’re not the ones that crossed the line tonight. It was clear, through frustration because of what [Jalen Duren] was doing, that they crossed the line. I hate that it got as ugly as it got. 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. That’s what happened tonight. Go back and watch the film. They’re the ones that initiated crossing the line. Our guy had to defend himself.”

Bickerstaff also noted the close relationship that Stewart shares with Duren, citing it as why Stewart inserted himself into the action despite not being on the floor.

“Go back and watch the film, they ran multiple guys at JD. JD and Stew consider themselves to be brothers. If you run two guys at one guy and you’ve already crossed the line, human instinct tells him to protect his little brother.”

Hornets coach Charles Lee wanted to focus more on the game

Hornets coach Charles Lee after his ejection during the second half against the Pistons. | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

While Bickerstaff wanted to make sure he was on record arguing the Hornets were the ones who had escalated the scuffle, Charlotte coach Charles Lee was a bit less forward with his thoughts on the matter.

“This was a freakin’ great game for us,” Lee began his postgame remarks. “Phenomenal opportunity for us to play the top seed right now, the No. 1 team in the East. A team that’s been to the playoffs, they’ve been tested. They bring a level of physicality and competitiveness to them and I think they bring out the best of you.”

Of the fight itself, Lee said he wanted to see the replay before making any sweeping statements.

“I’ll have to go back and watch it again. Just looked like a ton of physicality. Two guys kind of got in a heated conversation and then it kind of spiraled from there.”

Hornets guard Brandon Miller said such heated moments are just a part of the game

Brandon Miller wasn’t directly involved in the fracas, but was the one to hold his coach back in the fourth quarter after a different questionable call eventually led to Lee’s ejection. For Miller, playing hard means sometimes things like this happen, and he was proud of the way his team responded through the rest of the game.

“I think that’s the game. A lot of competitors on the floor doing what they love to do. The emotions are high—of course some things escalate like that. But I think just putting it to the side and just focus on what you need to focus on, I think that’s our mindset after that.”

Asked directly what it was like to be in the middle of such a scene, Miller was quick to respond.

“What was it like? It was fun. Next question.”

Hornets rookie Kon Knueppel just wanted to bring the heat down a bit

Charlotte Hornets Moussa Diabaté, Kon Knueppel and LaMelo Ball on the bench against the Detroit Pistons. | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

Kon Kneuppel worked to try and cool off Diabaté as he ran across the court, believing that the sooner things could settle down, the better chance he and his teammates would have of avoiding a suspension.

“I just tried to deescalate Moose because I know he wouldn’t hurt me,” Knueppel said. “Just try to do whatever I can to maybe save one of our guys from doing something stupid or getting hurt himself.”

Miles Bridges apologized to Hornets fans, but not to the opposition

In a few social media posts, Miles Bridges stood by his actions, arguing that he would always be there to protect his teammates.

💜💜💜 pic.twitter.com/IHS7zDD3tI
— Charlottehornetsonly (@ChaHornetsOnly) February 10, 2026

Miles Bridges on IG: pic.twitter.com/w6237kHGX5
— Hunter Bailey (@Hunter_Bailey45) February 10, 2026

Isaiah Stewart argued he was just doing his job

Walking back through the tunnel, cameras caught Stewart reflecting in the immediate aftermath of the brawl.

“You don’t expect me to stay on the bench,” Stewart said to no one in particular. “The f— I was drafted to Detroit for?”

“You don’t expect me to stay on the bench… The f*ck I was drafted to Detroit for?”

Pistons center Isaiah Stewart after being ejected against the Charlotte Hornets 💀

via @NickCarboniWCNC

pic.twitter.com/0h34i6KqTQ
— Woodward Sports Network (@woodwardsports) February 10, 2026

Between the fact that Stewart came in from off the bench to join the fray—something the NBA especially does not like—and that he has a history of several suspensions already, expect Stewart’s mandatory break handed down by the league to be quite a strong one. That said, between all of the blows thrown on Monday, it feels like we might not be seeing any of the four players who were ejected back on the court for a while.