NBA star LeBron James was thrown off the pitch when the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Detroit Pistons and caused a huge commotion with his action.

The 36-year-old's fist hit his opponent Isaiah Stewart in the face during a scramble for a free throw - Stewart was bleeding and grew angrier in the seconds afterwards.

He had to be held back several times by many supervisors, the situation seemed very heated.

Stewart was also thrown off the field because of it.

According to US media, it was only the second expulsion for James in his career.

The first time that James was previously sent off the field in the North American professional league was in November 2017 in a game against his former club Miami Heat.

Ten points and five rebounds

"Everyone in the league knows that they are not a dirty player," Lakers top scorer Anthony Davis (30 points) later said of James.

Pistons head coach Dwane Casey made a similar statement.

By the time he was suspended in the third quarter, James got ten points and five rebounds.

The Lakers finally won the game on Sunday evening (local time) 121: 116 and are at least back with a balanced record of nine wins and nine losses.

After a quarter of the season, the record champions are still lagging behind their own claims and are currently not in a place with direct qualification for the playoffs.

Meanwhile, the Dallas Mavericks lost on the return of national basketball player Maxi Kleber.

At the LA Clippers, the Mavs, who have to do without their superstar Luka Doncic, lost 91:97.

For Dallas it was the third loss in a row.

On his comeback, Kleber had five points and four rebounds in just under 20 minutes of play.

The 29-year-old had been absent since the beginning of November due to a back injury.

Isiah Hartenstein recorded two points and two rebounds at the Clippers.

At the top of the Western Conference are the Golden State Warriors, who won their home game against the Toronto Raptors 119-104.

With their twelfth win in a row, the Phoenix Suns are currently the most promising pursuit - the previous year's finalist for the championship won against the Denver Nuggets 126: 97.

In the Eastern Conference the Chicago Bulls come after the 109: 103 against the New York Knicks like the Brooklyn Nets to twelve wins and five losses.