Pistons’ Stewart arrested following pregame punch
PHOENIX — Detroit Pistons center Isaiah Stewart was arrested for assault Wednesday for punching Phoenix Suns center Drew Eubanks at the arena hours before the teams played.
Phoenix police said Stewart was issued a citation and released. Stewart was already listed as out for the game because of a sprained left ankle. Eubanks had six points and eight rebounds in 18 minutes in the Suns’ 116-100 victory.
Eubanks said before the game that the altercation happened as he was coming into the arena. He said an argument started and they were chest-to-chest before Stewart threw the punch. Security intervened and Eubanks said he was fine for the game, though police say he sustained a minor injury.
“The attack on Drew Eubanks was unprovoked, and acts of violence such as this are unacceptable,” the Suns said in a statement. “We unequivocally support Drew, and will continue to work with local law enforcement and the NBA.”
The Pistons said they were aware of the incident.
“We are in the process of gathering information about what happened and what provoked it, and responding to the NBA and local authorities,” the team said.
Pistons coach Monty Williams, fired by Phoenix after last season, said he thought the Suns should not have weighed in with their statement.
“The thing is to get all of the information. The NBA will do an investigation,” Williams said. “For me to come here and make a statement would be a bit irresponsible. I know the Suns said it was unprovoked; I think that is irresponsible for sure. You really don’t know.
“That did not need to happen. There is a time for the information to be gathered and then you can make a statement.”
Clippers’ Leonard has thigh injury
Clippers star Kawhi Leonard has a strained left inner thigh and his status for this weekend’s All-star Game in Indianapolis was uncertain, though coach Tyronn Lue didn’t consider the injury to be serious.
The 32-year old former Spur star and six-time All-star sat out Wednesday night’s 130-125 road win over the Golden State Warriors after playing with the injury Monday against Minnesota.
“I don’t think it’s serious,” Lue said. “He played through it last game. He was experiencing some soreness in the hip, so when the game got out of reach we didn’t put him back in the fourth quarter to be smart about it.”
Leonard leads the Clippers with 24.1 points per game and is second on the team with 6.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game.
In other Clippers news, forward P.J. Tucker was fined $75,000 by the NBA for publicly expressing a desire to be traded before last week’s deadline.
Tucker was acquired by the Clippers from Philadelphia in the trade for James Harden on Nov. 1 but played in just 12 games before falling out the rotation for good. He has not played since Nov. 27.
Pritchard, Celtics rout Nets by 50
Payton Pritchard scored 28 points as Nba-leading Boston routed Brooklyn 136-86 on Wednesday night, giving Joe Mazzulla his 100th victory as head coach and handing the Nets the second-worst loss in franchise history.
Derrick White finished with 27 points. Jayson Tatum added 20 points, nine assists and seven rebounds for the Celtics, who beat the Nets on backto-back nights and for the fourth time this season in both teams’ final game before the All-star break.
Boston has won six straight and will enter the break with an Nba-best 43-12 record. The Celtics went 57-25 in Mazzulla’s first year as coach last season. Wednesday marked the fifth 50-point win in team history.
Wednesday’s highlights
De’aaron Fox had 30 points, eight assists and eight rebounds and Domantas Sabonis added 20 points and 13 rebounds as the visiting Sacramento Kings rallied from a 16point, second-half deficit to beat the Denver Nuggets 102-98. … Bam Adebayo had 23 points and 14 rebounds to help the Miami Heat beat the host Philadelphia 76ers 109-104. …
GG Jackson scored 20 points and Jaren Jackson Jr. had 18, including 11 in the fourth quarter, as the host Memphis Grizzlies ended their nine-game losing streak with a 121-113 victory over the Houston Rockets.