Tensions boiled over in Charlotte on Monday night during the second half of the Detroit Pistons‘ 110-104 victory over the Hornets, as a brawl led to four players being ejected.

In the third quarter, Moussa Diabate fouled Jalen Duren in the paint. The two players then went face-to-face, with Duren giving Diabate a shove. The Hornets forward then completely lost his cool, and had to be restrained from chasing after Duren. At one point, he even broke loose and continued to go at Duren.

Just as it appeared things were finally calming down, Hornets forward Miles Bridges went after Duren, which caused Isaiah Stewart of the Pistons to fly off the bench and charge after Bridges. 

Diabate, Bridges, Duren and Stewart were all ejected, and it’s fair to expect that the NBA will hand down some suspensions for this.

Duren said afterwards that “emotions were flaring” in an “overly competitive game,” per NBA.com. 

“This isn’t the first time that people have tried to be like extra aggressive with us and talk to us, whatever the case may be,” Duren said. “But as a group we have done an OK job of handling that energy and intensity. At the end of the day, emotions got high with everybody being competitive. Things happen.”

However, the fracas was sparked by Duren putting his hand in Diabate’s face, which “is the most disrespectful thing you can do,” Bridges told reporters the following day.

In the fourth quarter, Hornets coach Charles Lee was ejected following a questionable charge call on Grant Williams. Despite all of the drama, he said that Monday night was a “freaking great game for us,” given how Charlotte battled against one of the top teams in the league.

“This was a freaking great game for us,” Lee said, via WCNC. “Phenomenal opportunity for us to play the top seed right now, the No. 1 team in the East, the team that has been in the playoffs, they’ve been tested. They bring a level of physicality and competitiveness to them and I think they bring out the best in you and I think that overall our guys responded to every run that they went on, all the physicality, and so I think we got a lot better tonight. The result won’t reflect that, but again, I thought our process and for most of the night our competitive spirit, our togetherness was really good.” 

Charlotte vs. Detroit was viewed as one of the games of the night, as the Pistons lead the East with a 39-13 record, while the Hornets were red-hot and riding a nine-game win streak prior to Monday night’s loss. Cade Cunningham was the star of the show, as he scored 33 points, grabbed nine rebounds and dished out seven assists.