Isaiah Stewart saw red and let his fists do the talking during a wild brawl on the hardwood Monday night.
In the Pistons’ 110-104 road win over the Hornets, tensions flared between the two teams as a wild brawl ignited after a hard foul by Charlotte’s Moussa Diabaté on Jalen Duren.
Amid the chaos, Hornets wing Miles Bridges was seen throwing a punch at Duren before known hot head Isaiah Stewart came flying in with a punch of his own at Bridges.
As Stewart came running forward from the bench, as he was not actively playing in the game at the time, Bridges threw a punch at Stewart, who dodged it and chased after him as bystanders attempted to separate them.
In a massive pile-up during the brawl, it appears Stewart threw multiple punches as he got Bridges in a headlock.
Bridges appeared to be clinched with the much larger Stewart during the altercation, as Stewart grabbed him by the head and neck while others tried to break up the fight.
Stewart, who stands at 6-foot-8 and weighs 250 pounds, was difficult for multiple staff members to slow down and separate from the fight.
Stewart, Bridges, Duren and Diabate were all ejected during the sprawling third-quarter brawl that will surely result in suspensions coming down from the NBA.
This isn’t the first time that Stewart saw red and charged after another NBA player, as Stewart previously charged after LeBron James in a 2021 fight.
After the game, J.B. Bickerstaff didn’t back down, saying his players had the right to protect themselves as Bridges threw punches first.
“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 said. “It was clear … they crossed the line. 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.”
The suspensions will likely come at an unfortunate time, as the Pistons face the Knicks on Feb. 19 after the All-Star Break, meaning they could be without Duren and Stewart.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
