‘Protect his brother’: J.B. Bickerstaff backs Detroit Pistons’ Duren, Stewart after physical Hornets game

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Detroit Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff praised his team’s resolve following their victory over the Charlotte Hornets, highlighting their ability to pull away and own the game down the stretch following their third-quarter scrum.

“I thought our guys did a great job of playing within the lines,” Bickerstaff said. “Our big guys in particular deal with a lot night by night. They’re treated differently physically. If you go back and watch our games in the trenches, those guys get beaten up night in and night out. And they do a great job of maintaining their composure.”

Bickerstaff said the team stuck with the game plan and understood what was most important to secure the win.

Regarding the third quarter, which saw a fight break out, Bickerstaff addressed the incident directly.

“Our guys deal with a lot, but they’re not the ones who initiated. They were not the ones who crossed the line tonight,” Bickerstaff said. “It was clear through frustration because of what JD was doing that they crossed the line. I hate that it got as ugly as it got. That’s not something 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.”

When asked about Isaiah Stewart’s role in the fight and the criticism he might face, Bickerstaff defended the Pistons forward.

“You see it one way, I see it another way,” Bickerstaff said. “We don’t want to see it get to that point. But when you watch the film, they ran multiple guys at JD. JD and Stew consider themselves brothers. If you run two guys at one guy, and you know you’ve already crossed the line, human instinct tells him to protect his little brother.”

Bickerstaff expressed sympathy for Stewart, acknowledging the consequences he may face but emphasizing the context of the situation.

“I hate it for Stew because of the things that are going to follow. But we weren’t the ones that crossed the line tonight and initiated this,” Bickerstaff said.

--> All-Star guard Cade Cunningham praises Detroit Pistons’ grit following brawl-filled win over Hornets

What happened

Jalen Duren and former Michigan Wolverines big man Moussa Diabate sparked a squabble in the third quarter with 7:09 to play following a hard foul.

Following the hard foul, Duren didn’t take the foul lightly and walked up to Diabate, who head-butted each other before Duren mushed the former Wolverines big man in the face, setting off the massive brawl.

Diabate charged Duren before taking a swing at him, as the first-time All-Star backpeddled away, while former Michigan State Spartans high flyer Miles Bridges jumped in to defend his teammate.

The former Wolverines big man was being held up by Tobias Harris before breaking away and charging toward Duren, who balled up his fists and squared up before being tackled into the crowd.

While both sides were being de-escalated, Bridges started pointing his finger in Duren’s direction and broke away from staffers to charge Duren before Isaiah Stewart came flying in from off the bench to take a few swings at Bridges before both fights got ultimately separated.

It wasn’t a repeat of the Isiah Thomas-led Detroit Bad Boys from the 1980s and early ’90s, or even the Malice at the Palace involving Hall of Fame center Ben Wallace.

Monday, Feb. 9, saw mayhem on the court at Spectrum Center as the Pistons went into a hostile environment to take on a red-hot Hornets team riding a nine-game winning streak.

All four players involved—Duren, Diabate, Bridges, and Stewart—were ejected from the game.

The NBA will review the incident from every angle to determine whether further punishment is warranted.

Players who throw punches could face multi-game suspensions, and monetary fines are common, especially for players who leave the bench area during altercations.

In addition to the player ejections, Charlotte’s head coach, Charles Lee, was also ejected for arguing a call during the heated game.

Detroit went on to end the nine-game winning streak, to advance to 39-13 on the season.

Fellow All-Star Cade Cunningham iced the game by knocking down two free throws with 10.8 seconds left to take a 110-104 lead.

Charlotte went on to throw up a last-second heave by LaMelo Ball, which hit off the back iron.

With Duren and Stewart ejected with a quarter and a half to play, Paul Reed came in and played a huge role in securing the victory.

“I understand that this was a pretty important game against a team that we might see in the playoffs,” said Reed. At the end of the day, being on the bench all game, I just wanted to make sure that my guys know they can trust me out there on the court while coming in and making plays to help us win.”

Reed talked about coming in and getting blocks and rebounds against the Hornets.

“I take a lot of pride in that. I got a versatile game. I can do a lot of things on the court, so I just try to display that every time I come on the court,” Reed said.

Describing the brawl, Reed talked about the love the team has for each other and how they have each other’s backs.

“It’s through the roof,” Reed said. “I’m pretty sure that everybody on the team would help JD out there, even the guys on the bench, and we got each other back 100,000%. We got to go out here and play games and win, so we all can’t just crash out. Some of us got to stay poised, stay in the moment, and understand what’s at stake. Let’s get another dub in Toronto.”

Reed finished the game with 12 points off the bench in the victory, while Cunningham finished with 33 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists in the victory.