The game between the Suns and the Pistons began to heat up before the start of the game. In the hallways of the Footprint Center, Phoenix's pavilion, an argument took place between Isaiah Stewart, of the Pistons, and Drew Eubanks, of the Suns. The exchange of words between the two escalated, to the point that the Detroit player punched the Arizona center in the face.
Eubanks, who despite the blow he received was fit to play (he scored six points in 18 minutes), explained what happened after the game: "When I was going to the locker room I had a word with Stewart and he hit me by surprise." For his part, the Pistons player, who was arrested and later released by the Phoenix police, according to journalist Mark McClune, did not play in the game due to some discomfort in his ankle.
During the incident, the pavilion's security forces were forced to intervene so that the event did not escalate. As soon as they heard the news, both the NBA and the Phoenix police decided to open an investigation to determine what happened before the match.
The Pistons have not made any statement in this regard, quite the opposite of the Suns: "It was an unprovoked act of violence," they stated. However, Monty Williams, current Detroit coach and former Phoenix coach, asked for caution: "The important thing is to obtain all the information, and for that the NBA will carry out an investigation. It would be irresponsible for me to come out here and make statements about it. "commented the coach. "I know the Suns have said it was unprovoked, and I think it's irresponsible to say that because they don't have any certainty. They didn't need to do it. There needs to be a period of time to gather information before issuing a statement," he said.
Isaiah Stewart has been involved in similar situations in the past. In 2021, the Pistons center had an altercation with LeBron James, who hit him in the face in a dispute over the ball. The 22-year-old player had to be reduced by his teammates, since he wanted to return it to the current Lakers player. The NBA took action on the matter and banned Stewart for two games.
Last night's game was played completely normally, and the Suns beat the Pistons 116-100, the franchise with the worst record in the NBA (8-46). In addition to this match, other matches were played such as Spurs-Mavericks, where Doncic (27 9 8) and Irving (34 9 7) won the game against rookie Wembanyama (26 9 5 3) in a duel between two of the young stars of the league. For their part, the Lakers, without LeBron, beat the Jazz with an enormous level from Davis (37 15) and Hachimura (36 points and 6/8 in triples). Since 2003, when Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal achieved it, two teammates have not been seen in Los Angeles surpassing the 35-point barrier in the same regular season game.
