CADE CUNNINGHAM led everyone with 33 points, nine rebounds and seven assists as the visiting Detroit Pistons held on for a 110-104 win over the Charlotte Hornets on Monday night in a game marred by a massive third-quarter brawl.
The fighting resulted in four ejections prior to the Pistons winning for the seventh time in their last nine games and the Hornets seeing an end to their nine-game winning streak.
It began with a confrontation when Charlotte’s Moussa Diabate fouled Detroit’s Jalen Duren across the arms while trying to stop a shot attempt in the paint. Duren turned to square up with Diabate and issued a slap that set Diabate off. When that scrap wound down, another broke out near midcourt with the main participants being Charlotte’s Miles Bridges and Detroit’s Isaiah Stewart, who came off the bench.
By the end of the fighting, the mayhem spread across most of the court. Diabate, Bridges, Duren and Stewart were ejected at the 7:09 mark of the third quarter — at which point the Pistons owned a 70-62 lead.
Duncan Robinson provided 18 points on 8-for-10 shooting, Duren had 15 points in 20 minutes and Paul Reed added 12 points for the Pistons. — Reuters
