Battling in the post, both Duren and Diabate were talking to each other throughout the first half. Now, the two players are very familiar with each other– Diabate and Duren faced off in high school when JD played for Montverde Academy and the Hornets player suited up for IMG Academy. In a recently surfaced clip that appears to show the aftermath of that matchup, Duren is shown yelling at IMG as his squad walks across the court, clearly still flowing with energy after what looked to be a heated game. Whether that prior meeting played a role in Wednesday night’s fight is unknown, but after Diabate put a hard foul on Duren in the third quarter, the two parties met in the paint for the flashpoint of a brawl involving both teams.
