Hornets' Miles Bridges hits fan with mouthpiece after being ejected from NBA play-in tournament game

Miles Bridges' frustrations boiled over late in the Charlotte Hornets' blowout loss Wednesday night in the NBA play-in tournament when he hit a young fan with his mouthpiece after being ejected from the game in Atlanta.

Bridges was whistled for goaltending with 6:39 left in the fourth quarter against the Hawks. Upset with the call, Bridges yelled at referee James Williams, who assessed Bridges a technical foul. Bridges continued to argue, and Williams gave him a second technical, triggering an automatic ejection.

As Bridges made his way through the tunnel towards the locker room, a fan next to the railing closest to Bridges waved goodbye. Bridges then swung his arm at the fan's arm and lost his mouthpiece, which hit a girl standing nearby in the shoulder and face.

After the game, Bridges took to Twitter and called the incident "unacceptable." In a retweet of a video clip from the altercation, Bridges also asked for help reaching out to the fan.

"Somebody get me in contact with the young lady," Bridges wrote. "That’s unacceptable."

Bridges told reporters he'll accept whatever punishment he gets from the league.

"I was upset about a call, a couple of calls really," he said. "I let my temper get the best of me. It was definitely the wrong thing to do."

Charlotte's season ended Wednesday with the 132-103 loss. Bridges had 12 points on 5-of-11 shooting with four assists and four rebounds. The Hornets made the Eastern Conference play-in tournament for the second consecutive year but lost another blowout in the 9-10 matchup.

Contributing: Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Hornets' Miles Bridges hits fan with mouthpiece after being ejected