LeBron James was on Sunday night ejected after bloodying Isaiah Stewart with a swipe to the face in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 121-116 victory over the Detroit Pistons in Detroit.
The NBA superstar was thrown out for the second time in his career after striking the Pistons’ Stewart in the face while the pair were battling for rebounding position.
Stewart, who was cut above the right eye, tried to confront James. That led to a scrum of players from both teams coming together with several coaches and security people also joining the fray as the Piston player repeatedly tried to retaliate.
Photo: AFP
The incident occurred with 9 minutes, 18 seconds remaining in the third quarter and the Lakers trailing 79-67.
The Lakers came into the contest on a three-game losing streak and a disappointing 8-9 on the season.
Anthony Davis, who scored a team-high 30 points, came to his teammate’s defense after the game, in which the Lakers came from behind to win.
“Everyone in the league knows that [James] isn’t a dirty guy. As soon as he did it, he looked back and told him: ‘My bad. I didn’t try to do it.’ I don’t know what [Stewart] was trying to do. Nobody on our team, 1-15, was having it,” he said.
Stewart was initially whistled for a loose ball foul. Following a video review, James was then slapped with a flagrant foul and sent to the locker room. Stewart was handed two technical fouls and thrown out, and Lakers guard Russell Westbrook was called for a technical foul.
James finished with 10 points and five assists.
Lakers coach Frank Vogel said he was relieved to see that it did not escalate further.
“Our guys did a good job of protecting our teammate. You want peacekeepers in those situations. Forming a wall around a teammate and standing up before it turned into something uglier,” he said
James was previously ejected from a game in November 2017 against the Miami Heat.
“His eye was cracked open. He [Stewart] was upset for a reason, but I don’t think LeBron is a dirty player,” Pistons coach Dwane Casey said.
Cade Cunningham, the No. 1 overall pick in the entry draft, had 13 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists to become the youngest player in Pistons franchise history with a triple-double.
Elsewhere, Paul George scored a game-high 29 points as the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Luka Doncic-less Dallas Mavericks 97-91 in Southern California.
In Phoenix, Arizona, Cam Johnson scored a career-high 22 points, Deandre Ayton added 21 and the fast-starting Phoenix Suns beat the Denver Nuggets 126-97 for its 12th straight victory.
In Chicago, DeMar DeRozan scored 31 points, Zach LaVine added 21 and the Chicago Bulls rallied in the fourth quarter to beat the New York Knicks 109-103.
In San Francisco, Jordan Poole had his second straight 30-point performance with 33, Andrew Wiggins added 32 points and seven rebounds, and the Golden State Warriors beat the Toronto Raptors 119-104.
Additional reporting by AP
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