Brawl in Pistons' win over Hornets ends in 4 ejections

A brawl that ended with four players ejected overshadowed the Detroit Pistons victory over the Charlotte Hornets, who saw their nine-game winning streak come to an end. Cade Cunningham led the Eastern Conference leaders to their 39th win so far this season.

The embarrassing spectacle that marked the game began with 7:09 to play in the third quarter, when Moussa Diabaté fouled Jalen Durenand then confronted him. Duren threw a punch to his face and a confrontation ensued involving both teams, including members of the coaching staff.

In addition to the ejections of the two players who started the melee came out of the game Miles Bridges (Charlotte) and Isaiah Stewart (Detroit) who were involved in a subsequent incident.

"It was a game of a lot of emotions," said Cade Cunningham, who finished as the leading scorer with 33 points. "When someone faces you like that you're going to look to defend, that's what we did and now we move on."

Detroit enjoyed an eight-point lead at the time of the altercation and managed to hold on to it to add its 39th win of the season for first place in the Eastern Conference.

For Charlotte, Brandon Miller led the way with 24 points while Kon Knueppel and LaMelo Ball contributed 20 apiece.

Randle puts Wolves back on winning track

The Minnesota Timberwolves leaned on a triple double by Julius Randle for a 138-116 win over the Atlanta Hawks at the Target Center in Minneapolis. Randle, 31 and a star for Minnesota, had a line of 18 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists.

In what became a norm during Monday's NBA action, the game featured a showdown between Naz Reid and Mo Gueye, both ejected from the game. The home side dominated the game by extending the lead to 31 points, pacing the paint 70-42 through Randle and Frenchman Rudy Gobert.

The Timberwolves (33-22) are reeling from a streak of two consecutive losses in sixth place in the Western Conference, eight games behind the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder.

"The Beard" carries Cavs on his back against Jokic

James Harden (22 points) and Donovan Mitchell (32 points) combined to score 54 points in the Cleveland Cavaliers' 119-117 victory over the Denver Nuggets at the Ball Arena in Denver.

Harden, who was traded to the Cavs on Feb. 3, leveled the score at 117 with 32 seconds to play while Mitchell secured the victory with a pair of free throws. "We just found a way to win," Harden mentioned. "This is a great group, Devon could score 35 points every night."

The Cavs, who were down by as many as 11 points, managed to stay in the game and allowed their star players a chance to go for the game down the stretch. It was a complete game for "The Beard," who added to his 22 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists.

For the Nuggets, Serbian Nikola Jokic added another triple-double, 22 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists, bringing his career total to 183 and moving closer to Russell Westbrook's NBA record of 207.

Too much Thunder for Lakers, even without SGA

A feisty Oklahoma City Thunder cruised to a 119-110 win over the Los Angeles Lakers at Crypto.com Arena and earns its first victory since Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's abdominal injury on Feb. 3.

This time the responsibility fell to Jalen Williams who scored 23 points, his last basket bringing the visitors' lead to five points with 52 seconds to play. "We did a good job moving the ball," mentioned Williams. "It's always important to trust our fundamentals, that's the reason we got the win."

The Lakers (32-20), who were without Luka Doncic for the second straight game, suffer their ninth home loss of the season.