(Video) LaMelo Ball Has Words for Isaiah Stewart as Hornets-Pistons Almost Brawl Again

LaMelo Ball and his Hornets played the Detroit Pistons for the first time since their massive brawl earlier this season.

(Video) LaMelo Ball Has Words for Isaiah Stewart as Hornets-Pistons Almost Brawl Again

LaMelo Ball and Isaiah Stewart (Image via FirstSportz)

In Short
  • LaMelo Ball taunted Isaiah Stewart after hitting a three-pointer during a tense game between the Hornets and Pistons.
  • The game featured multiple confrontations, including a push between Brandon Miller and Duncan Robinson.
  • The Pistons secured the top seed in the East with a 118-100 victory over the Hornets.

No basketball player in their right mind expected LaMelo Ball and his Charlotte Hornets to be contending for a playoff spot, and neither were they ready to see the Detroit Pistons become the best team in the East.

If anybody had predicted these before the season started, their acquaintances would have probably asked them to get help or take some time off from the stress they might have been enduring.

Sure, the Pistons were already in the playoffs last year. But leading the East, and being close enough to touch the league-leading Oklahoma City Thunder, is a completely different ballgame.

After all, the franchise has been at the bottom of the league for quite some time, which is why many felt that last season’s run to the first round may have been a fluke.

At the same time, no one probably did not anticipate the Hornets and Pistons to become rivals. That happened after the two teams brawled, leading to multiple ejections and eventually suspensions.

This was their first game back against each other, and tensions were palpable from the start. In the third quarter, with both teams neck-and-neck, Pistons’ strong man Isaiah Stewart was locking arms with LaMelo Ball.

The latter freed himself, ran towards the perimeter, and calmly drained a three-pointer that needed some help from the back of the rim.

After that, he was seen pointing a finger at Stewart and saying something. Going by historical evidence of his vocabulary, what he was saying could be anybody’s guess.

LaMelo Ball was toying with Pistons players earlier

This was not the first instance where the Charlotte Hornets were trying to taunt the Detroit Pistons. Playing in front of their home fans, LaMelo Ball was doing whatever he could to make his point.

LaMelo Ball against the Pistons
LaMelo Ball against the Pistons (Image via Meloleague/X)

In the second quarter, after stealing the ball, the 24-year-old sprinted to the Pistons’ end to score. But seeing this, Jalen Duren and Ron Holland ran after him.

When Ball reached the rim, the two were right behind. When he sensed this was developing behind him, the point guard faked to score a layup and streaked out towards the three-point line.

Since the two Pistons’ players bit on that fake, they were left standing under the rim. LaMelo Ball calmly drained the three-pointer, sending the fans inside Spectrum Center into a rapturous roar.

Hornets fans understood well and truly that Ball, and the rest of the players, were trying to make a point to a team that has become their newest rival.

Hornets and Pistons nearly started round two of their brawl

LaMelo Ball was toying and taunting Detroit Pistons players in the second and third quarters, but the tension between the two sides was evident from the off.

In the first quarter, the Charlotte Hornets went up by four points to zero, with forward Brandon Miller scoring the second of those with a dunk.

As he was coming down from the rim, he collided with Pistons guard Duncan Robinson. That likely irked the three-and-D specialist, and he reciprocated with a two-handed shove to Miller’s chest.

The latter did not appreciate that and came back with his arms around Robinson’s chest. The pushing and shoving only stopped when Jalen Duren used his massive wingspan to keep them away from each other.

The latter knows what another brawl can lead to. With the playoffs around the corner, both teams need all their players ready to battle.

At the end, the Pistons proved why they are the best team in the East. They pieced together a crucial 25-10 fourth-quarter performance to put the Hornets in their place.

After winning the game 118-100, the Pistons clinched the top seed in the East, and the Hornets found themselves locked in on a play-in spot. If the latter wind up facing their rivals in the first round, expect nothing less than fireworks.

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