Win streak over: Hornets fall to Pistons 110-104 

NBAE

Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball drives to the basket in their 110-104 loss in an NBA game Feb. 9, 2026, at Spectrum Center. The loss snapped a nine-game win streak for Charlotte, their longest since 1999.

The Hornets’ nine-game win streak was fun while it lasted.

As the adage goes, all good things come to an end and that is what happened Monday in a 110-104 loss to Eastern Conference leader Detroit in a game had a ton of energy and emotion. So much emotion that it resulted in the ejection of four players, two from each team. 

In the third quarter, Hornets’ center Moussa Diabate was called for a foul on Pistons’ center Jalen Duren. They head butted one another and Duren appeared to slap Diabate. From there, chaos ensued. Diabate charged Duren and started to throw punches. Hornets forward Miles Bridges went to take a shot at Duren and Pistons center Isaiah Stewart charged Bridges and they exchanged shots. 

Hornets coach Charles Lee said he would have to watch the video to give a better take on the incident but gave a quick recap from his point of view.

“It just looked like tough physicality," Lee said, “and [Diabate and Duren] got into a heated conversation and it kind of just spiraled from there.”

Lee was overcome with emotion late in the fourth quarter. Hornets’ forward Grant Williams was jogging down the court and got into the paint, and before he could establish post position, was called for an offensive foul. In a game that was physical from the tip-off, Lee felt that call in crunch time was odd, and he got heated at the officials. 

“I take ownership of it,” Lee said. “I thought that we were competing our tails off. I thought that was a very physical game. Grant's walking down the paint and barely touched somebody, and the guy fell over, and that's what we're going to call the foul on. So again, [the referees] have a hard job to have to make these calls, but I don’t think that that was like the consistency of what had been called the rest of the game.”

Hornets’ guard Brandon Miller said it was nice to see their coach take up for the team the way he did.

“That’s our head honcho, our leader,” Miller said. “To see him have our backs like that, I tip my hat to him, but you know, we have got to stay focused and just focused on the right things.”

Kon Knueppel was among the Hornets who jumped in the middle of the third quarter altercation and tried to calm Diabate. Even though Knueppel is a rookie, it is abundantly clear he has a voice on this team.

“I just tried to de-escalate Moussa,” Knueppel said, “because I knew he wouldn’t hurt me. So, I just tried to do whatever I can to maybe save one of our guys from doing something stupid or getting himself hurt.”

It is easy for an event like a fight to take the focus off basketball, but the Hornets found a way to compete and have chances down the stretch to take the lead. Although key shots didn’t go their way, Lee felt the competitive spirit was where it needed to be.

“I think that overall, our guys responded to every run that they went on, and all the physicality,” he said. “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 out togetherness was really good.”

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