Hornets not sweating fight, end of streak: ‘I think we got better tonight’

Monday night was supposed to be about the Hornets chasing history.

Instead, it turned into a full-blown scene.

A third-quarter brawl, five ejections, and an emotional sideline eruption overshadowed everything as the Pistons walked out of Spectrum Center with a 110-104 win, snapping Charlotte’s nine-game streak.

“It’s competitors,” Hornets wing Brandon Miller said afterward, via Roderick Boone of the Charlotte Observer. “A lot of guys doing what they love. Emotions are high. Stuff escalates sometimes. You just try to put it to the side and focus on what you need to focus on.”

That was easier said than done.

With Charlotte trailing 70-62 midway through the third, Jalen Duren and Moussa Diabate got tangled in the paint.

A foul was called. Words followed. Then contact. Duren swiped at Diabate. Diabate came back at him. Suddenly, bodies were everywhere.

Things escalated again moments later when Miles Bridges charged toward Duren, prompting Isaiah Stewart to come off Detroit’s bench.

Officials reviewed the sequence and ejected Duren, Diabate, Bridges, and Stewart.

“The respective players engaged in fighting activity during a dead ball,” referee John Goble explained. “By rule, they were ejected.”

The night somehow got louder.

With under 6:00 left in the fourth, Hornets coach Charles Lee was tossed after charging onto the floor following an offensive foul call. Miller physically held him back as officials stepped in.

“I take ownership of it,” Lee said. “I thought we were competing our tails off. It was a very physical game. Grant’s walking through the paint, barely touches somebody, and that’s a foul. I didn’t think the consistency was there.”

Goble was direct.

“Coach Lee aggressively pursued the official and had to be restrained by his player,” he said.

Lee never returned, leaving assistant Lamar Skeeter to guide a furious late push. Charlotte cut a 12-point fourth-quarter deficit to two but could not get the final stops.

Still, Lee focused on the bigger picture.

“This was a phenomenal opportunity,” he said. “We played the top seed in the East. The physicality, the competitiveness, it brings out the best in you. I think we got better tonight. The result won’t reflect that, but our spirit did.”

The streak ended. The lessons, the Hornets hope, did not.