Hornets, Pistons fight leads to seven-game suspension for Stewart, three others suspended

Detroit Pistons reserve F/C Isaiah Stewart has been suspended seven games for leaving the bench area, aggressively entering an on-court altercation, and fighting, the NBA announced Wednesday.

According to the league, the length of Stewart’s suspension, who left the bench to confront Mules Bridges, is based in part on his repeated history of unsportsmanlike acts.

Additionally, Charlotte Hornets forwards Bridges and Moussa Diabaté have each been suspended for 4 games for fighting and escalating the altercation, and Pistons center Jalen Duren has been suspended for 2 games for initiating the altercation and fighting.

The incident began when Diabaté committed a defensive foul on Duren with 7:09 remaining in the third quarter of the Pistons’ 110-104 victory over the Hornets on Feb. 9 at Spectrum Center.

All four players were assessed technical fouls and ejected from the game.

Stewart and Duren will begin serving their suspensions tonight when the Pistons visit the Toronto Raptors at Scotiabank Arena.

Bridges and Diabaté will also begin serving their suspensions tonight when the Hornets host the Atlanta Hawks.

Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff says Duren and Stewart are close, which may have explained why Stewart left the bench.

“We don’t want to see it get to that point, but when you go back and watch the film, they ran multiple guys at JD(Duren),” Bickerstaff said. “JD and Stew(Stewart) consider themselves to be brothers, and if you run two guys at one guy and you’ve already crossed the line, human instinct tells him to protect his little brother.”

Because of past incidents, you thought there was a possibility that Stewart could get a longer suspension, but fortunately for him and the Pistons, it’s only seven games.

Currently, the Pistons (38-19), who have the best record in the East, have a 5 1/2-game lead over the second-place Celtics. The Hornets(25-29), whose nine-game winning streak was snapped against the Pistons, are the 10th seed in the East and hope to move up or stay there over the next few weeks of the regular season.