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 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.
Brandon Miller led the Hornets with 24 points while Kon Knueppel, who made five 3-pointers, and LaMelo Ball added 20 points apiece. Diabate was scoreless in 19 minutes, though he had a team-high six rebounds.
Charlotte held a 57-15 advantage in 3-point scoring, with the Pistons going 5-for-25 from long range. Nineteen of the Hornets’ 34 field goals were threes.
Shortly after the brawl, the Pistons pushed their lead to 85-69 on a pair of Reed free throws with 4:31 to go in the third.
Charlotte gradually carved into the margin and Miller’s jumper, followed by two free throws with 1:36 to play, closed the gap to 104-100. Miller had a chance to make it closer on the next possession, but he missed a 3-point attempt. Knueppel grabbed the rebound, but also missed a 3-point try.
Tobias Harris, who finished with 11 points, converted at the other end with a short jumper.
The Hornets were 17-for-17 on free throws.
The teams will meet again April 10 in Charlotte. The Pistons won a December matchup at home.
