Four players ejected after Pistons and Hornets tussle in physical game won by Detroit

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — A fight between the Detroit Pistons and Charlotte Hornets in the third quarter of Monday night's game, resulted in four player ejections.

Charlotte’s Moussa Diabate and Miles Bridges were tossed, along with Detroit’s Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart. Hornets coach Charles Lee was ejected in the fourth quarter after he had to be restrained from going after an official while arguing a call.

The Pistons won the game 110-104. The loss ended the Hornets’ bid to match a franchise record with 10 straight wins.

Duren had the ball and was driving toward the basket with just over seven minutes left in the third period when he was fouled by Diabate. Duren turned around to get face-to-face with Diabate and the two appeared to butt heads. Duren then hit Diabate in the face with his open right hand, starting a confrontation that lasted more than 30 seconds and ultimately ended with a brief police presence on the floor.

While Pistons forward Tobias Harris was holding Diabate back, Diabate threw a punch at Duren. Duren walked away and Bridges charged at him, throwing a left-handed punch. Duren retaliated with a punch. Diabate attempted to charge again at Duren and had to be held back.

Stewart left the bench to confront Bridges, who responded with a punch, and the players tussled. At one point, Stewart got Bridges in a headlock and delivered mutiple left-handed blows to his head.

Duren called it an "overly competitive game."

“Emotions were flaring,” Duren said. “At the end of the day, we would love to keep it basketball, but things happen. Everybody was just playing hard.”

Duren said that opposing NBA teams have been trying to “get in our head” all season.

“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."

Duren did not say how the fight started, referring reporters instead to the video replays.

The Hornets did not make Bridges and Diabate available for interviews after the game.

However, Bridges took to Instagram late Monday night to say: “Sorry Hornets nation! Sorry Hornets Organization.! Always gonna protect my teammates forever.”

“It looked like two guys got into a heated conversation and it just kind of spiraled from there,” Lee said.

Crew chief John Goble said in a pool report after the game that the players were ejected because they "engaged in fighting activity during the dead ball. After review, we assessed fighting fouls and by rule they were ejected from the game.”

Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff defended his players after the game.

“Our guys deal with a lot, but they’re not the ones that initiated, they’re not the ones who crossed the line tonight,” Bickerstaff said. “It was clear, through frustration, because of what J.D. (Duren) was doing, that they crossed the line. I hate that it got as ugly as it got.

“That’s not something that you ever want to see,” Bickerstaff added, "but if a guy throws a punch at you, you have a responsibility to protect yourself. That’s what happened tonight. If you go back and watch the film, they’re the ones who initiated crossing the line and our guy had to defend himself.”

Tensions continued to mount at the Spectrum Center after the fight.

Midway through the fourth quarter, Lee was ejected and had to be restrained by Hornets guard Brandon Miller while yelling at officials for a no-call after Charlotte's Grant Williams collided with Detroit’s Paul Reed.

“Grant was walking down the paint and barely touched somebody and the guy fell over and that is what we are going to call a foul,” Lee said. “They have a hard job to make these calls, but I don't think that was the consistency with which that had been called the rest of the game.”

As for being ejected, Lee said he has to have more control of emotions moving forward.

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Charlotte Hornets forward Moussa Diabate, second from left, is held back as he goes after Detroit Pistons center Jalen Duren during a fight on the court in the second half of an NBA basketball game in Charlotte, N.C., Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)

Charlotte Hornets and Detroit Pistons coaches and security try to break up a fight during the second half of an NBA basketball game in Charlotte, N.C., Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)

Charlotte Hornets forward Moussa Diabate, second from left, is held back as he goes and Detroit Pistons center Jalen Duren (0) fight during the second half of an NBA basketball game in Charlotte, N.C., Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)

Detroit Pistons center Jalen Duren, left, throws punches with Charlotte Hornets forward Miles Bridges, right, during a fight on the court in the second half of an NBA basketball game in Charlotte, N.C., Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)

HONG KONG (AP) — When Hong Kong was hit by its deadliest fire in decades last year, it left thousands of residents without some of their friends, family or the place they called home.

More than two months later, the occupants of the Wang Fuk Court apartment complex are waiting not just for answers about what happened, but also a new place to live.

Authorities are yet to unveil plans for long-term resettlement after surveying the residents' preferences. The Lunar New Year on Feb. 17, meanwhile, is stirring recent memories of celebrating the festival in what is now a largely burnt-out residential complex in the suburban district of Tai Po.

The massive blaze engulfed seven apartment buildings and killed 168 people on Nov. 26, 2025, shattering a close-knit community. Authorities blamed substandard scaffold netting and foam boards used in a maintenance project for rapidly spreading the fire. Although some arrests were made, an independent committee is still investigating the cause.

The Associated Press talked to four families who lived in the complex or lost loved ones there. Here’s what they said:

When flames devoured the towers of the Wang Fuk Court complex, Pearl Chow, 87, fled her apartment with essential documents like her title deed. Her grandson, Dorz Cheung, 33, rushed from his office to find her safe nearby while the fire was still raging.

That night, Chow went to a friend’s home and didn’t sleep, while Cheung watched the flames for hours, crying while clutching a friend. They both miss old photos lost in the fire.

Now they are separated into two temporary housing units on separate floors, each around 100 square feet (9.2 square meters). Chow says she's satisfied, but Cheung says it's not a home.

“Only a permanent residence can be a home,” he said.

Chow still regularly returns to Tai Po for church and grocery shopping, despite the hourlong journey. They want to be resettled in Tai Po, where they lived for decades, in a unit about the same size as their old apartment.

“I am an elderly person. When they finish building, I may have gone to my heavenly home,” she said with a laugh.

Data from the 2021 population census showed over one-third of the complex's approximately 4,600 residents were aged 65 or above.

Cheung said he lost his sense of security with the authorities after the blaze. The government proposed measures to combat bid-rigging in building maintenance and enhance fire safety in January, but Cheung says it still hasn't addressed resettlement.

“We can only wait, being tossed around like a ball,” he said.

Kit Chan, 74, lived with her husband in a 460-square-foot (43-square-meter) apartment for over 40 years, raising their family in a community where neighbors helped look after each other’s children.

Chan planned to spend the rest of her life there, but the blaze forced the couple into a studio unit at a youth hostel half the size of their apartment. Weeks ago, they heard that other fire victims were being asked to move out of the hostel.

She hasn’t been asked to leave, but it's got her worried about what comes next. “It’s like being unable to get by in my final years,” she said.

Chan initially wanted to be resettled in a new home built on the fire site, but the government estimates that rebuilding will take about a decade. Now she says she could accept a similar-sized apartment in another district with good transport.

Her husband, Keung Mak, 78, hopes they can return to their old home just to have a look.

It has memories like their family and wedding photos. “Many people hope they can at least see how badly it was burned,” Mak said.

During past Lunar New Year celebrations, Isaac Tam’s family used to visit neighbors on their floor with gifts. Now, the familiar faces he has known for years are scattered across the city.

The loss of their two apartments in the fire was heartbreaking. His parents cried, and his 92-year-old grandfather grew thinner. But Tam, 23, said at least all his family members were alive.

Last weekend, they were preparing to move into temporary homes, smaller than their old apartments and farther from the city center. They shelled out money to renovate them.

While he says the government’s handling is not as bad as some say, he worries about how his grandfather will adjust to temporary housing in a new district. Back in Tai Po, the grandfather used to have a morning dim sum routine with his friends.

As they await the government's resettlement plans, they have been weighing apartments in another district that could be ready sooner than units in Tai Po, which he prefers because he grew up there.

Time is their priority, given his grandfather's age, Tam said.

“I fear he can’t wait until we secure an apartment of about 400 square feet (about 37 square meters),” he said, regardless of the district.

Phyllis Lo’s mother called her after seeing thick smoke outside her door when the blaze started. On the call, knowing she might not survive, her 74-year-old mother asked Lo, 48, and her brother to live well. Lo immediately rushed to her childhood home and called again minutes later. No one answered. The next morning, police told her they had found her mother's body.

After learning that a mix of issues including substandard materials were used in the building maintenance project and failed fire alarms, Lo wondered if the tragedy could have been avoided if government departments had done a better job. While she doesn't who should bear responsibility, she blamed herself for not monitoring the project for her mother more closely.

What bothers her most is the lack of transparency — when she can see her burnt apartment, how authorities will use the $589 million relief fund. She hopes to get updates from the nine-month investigation.

She wants her childhood home rebuilt at the fire site, but considers the proposed timeline of about a decade unreasonably long.

As the Lunar New Year neared, Lo made turnip cakes — a tradition she inherited from her mother. “Maybe she is still everywhere and still seeing us now. I really want to be with her,” she said in tears.

Hong Kong leader John Lee said the city is working hard on a resettlement plan, but it’s a complicated matter. He added that a significant proportion of homeowners have indicated that they’d be willing to consider selling their ownership rights to the government.

“This is no easy time for families of Wang Fuk Court. The government will work tirelessly to finalize the plan as soon as possible,” he said at Tuesday's press briefing.

Jack Rozdilsky, professor of disaster and emergency management at York University in Canada, said the city is moving to a disaster recovery phase and noted that concrete plans for continuous mental health and trauma coping aid will be key to a successful resettlement plan.

Rozdilsky saw the community survey on resettlement as a good sign because a one-size-fits-all proposal will not satisfy the households.

While rebuilding living spaces is complicated, he said, reconstructing a community is much harder. He said understanding what promoted community at the housing complex before the fire and incorporating those features — be it a bus stop or a gathering point in a park — would help.

“Very small things matter,” he said.

A pedestrian walks past the fire-ravaged residential towers of the Wang Fuk Court apartment complex, in the Tai Po district of Hong Kong, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)

Phyllis Lo, daughter of one of the victims killed by the deadly Wang Fuk Court fire, reacts during an interview at her house in Hong Kong, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)

Lunar New Year's Fai Chun are hanged outisde the room of Dorz Cheung, a resident displaced by the deadly Wang Fuk Court fire, in Hong Kong, Monday, Feb. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)

Pearl Chow, a resident displaced by the deadly Wang Fuk Court fire, cooks a plate of dumplings at the transitional housing provided by the government, in Hong Kong, Monday, Feb. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)

Transitional housing provided by the government, in Kai Tak district of Hong Kong, Monday, Feb. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)

Pearl Chow, left, and Dorz Cheung, residents displaced by the deadly Wang Fuk Court fire speak during the interview at the transitional housing provided by the government in Hong Kong, Monday, Feb. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)

FILE - Smoke rises after a fire broke out at Wang Fuk Court, a residential estate in the Tai Po district of Hong Kong's New Territories, Nov. 26 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei, File)