4 players tossed in brawl between Pistons-Hornets

Jalen Duren, Miles Bridges, Moussa Diabate, and Isaiah Stewart were ejected midway through the third quarter of Monday's contest between the Detroit Pistons and Charlotte Hornets.

Duren and Diabate went head-to-head after the latter committed a foul, which sparked a massive brawl between both sides.

Duren appeared to make contact to the face of Diabate, who then took a swing at the Pistons' All-Star center.

Bridges immediately came to the defense of Diabate, shoving Duren away from his teammate.

Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff had no issues with how his players handled themselves.

"Our guys deal with a lot, but they're not the ones that initiated, they're not the ones who crossed the line tonight," Bickerstaff told reporters postgame, including Steve Reed of The Associated Press. "It was clear, through frustration, because of what J.D. (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," Bickerstaff added. "But if a guy throws a punch at you, you have a responsibility to protect yourself. That's what happened tonight. If you go back and watch the film, they're the ones who initiated crossing the line and our guy had to defend himself."

Tobias Harris tried to descalate the situation, but Diabate still managed to throw a punch towards Duren as he was being held back by the Pistons veteran.

Diabate broke free shortly after but was separated by multiple coaches and teammates as he charged at Duren.

Bridges then had words for Duren and attempted to connect with a punch of his own.

The Hornets forward's actions prompted Stewart to rush in off the bench.

Bridges and Stewart exchanged punches as well before they were broken up by players and coaches.

The ejections didn't end there, as Charlotte head coach Charles Lee was tossed in the fourth quarter for arguing an offensive foul call on Grant Williams.

Lee had to be restrained by Brandon Miller, who escorted his head coach into the tunnel before the situation escalated any further.

"Grant was walking down the paint and barely touched somebody and the guy fell over and that is what we are going to call a foul," Lee said, according to Reed. "They have a hard job to make these calls, but I don't think that was the consistency with which that had been called the rest of the game."

The East-leading Pistons eventually prevailed 110-104 to end the Hornets' nine-game win streak.