Hornets coach Charles Lee spoke about the need to develop “emotional maturity” after a late-game skirmish following Friday’s loss to Boston, writes Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer. The altercation then started Grant Williams ran into former teammate Jayson Tatum as the Celtics pushed the ball up the court (Twitter video link from NBC Sports Boston). Williams was ejected from the game for a Flagrant 2 foul and may face further discipline from the league office.

“It was a transition opportunity and I tried to play the ball. I reached across his body and if you slow down the repetition, it’s like I’m making a play and then I kind of chase it,” Willems explained. “JT has always been one of my best friends. There was no intention to harm him in any way. So it was just one of those plays where he passes the ball at full speed, which probably makes it worse because then I reach for the ball. The ball is already out of his hand. … You saw me raise my hand and say I fouled him.”

Williams added that he wanted to apologize to Tatum immediately after the play. But the teams were immediately sent back to their respective benches and Williams was thrown from the game before he could say anything to Tatum.

“We all know JT is my husband. Nothing intentional,” Williams added. “He got up quickly and by the time I got up there was a commotion and they took us to our benches. I’ll speak to him tonight or (Saturday). He knows. We probably don’t even need to talk. He knows it was in no way intentional or malicious.”

There’s more from Charlotte:

• There is still no timetable for the injured center Mark Williams‘, Boone adds in the same piece. It’s been five weeks since Williams was diagnosed with a strained tendon in his left foot, and he hasn’t been able to scrimmage or participate in full-squad drills. “He is involved and observes all practice activities and film,” Lee said: “and even (Friday) during shootaround he sits next to me and tries to talk through the game plan and stuff. So he goes out of his way to make sure he absorbs all the information and terminology and when he comes back, he’s ready to go. But for now he’s just doing individual work. And the next phase of his return-to-play plan will involve some group-style activities. And once we get to practice and things like that, I think we’ll update further.
• Brandon Miller will return to action tonight for the first time since leaving the season opener with a glute muscle injury, Boone said in a separate story. However, Seth Curry will miss the game with a right knee injury and Nick Richardswho has started at center in place of Williams will be sidelined after leaving Friday’s match with a sore shoulder. “Nick has played a big role in what we have done in the first five games. I’m really happy with him and his ability to kind of dominate the paint,” Lee said. “He’s changed a lot of shots and I think he helps us with his pick-and-roll coverage and understanding the different gaps in the midfield and creating some indecisiveness with ballhandlers. He’s done a great job defensively, and offensively he’s created a lot of advantages for all our scorers, all our ball handlers.”
• The Athletic’s Jared Weiss investigates whether Miller, LaMelo ball and the rest of the young Hornets can create an identity as a team. Weiss also talks to the president of basketball operations Jeff Peterson about the unique approach he took to become the third team in the Karl-Anthony Cities deal, in which three players are acquired via sign-and-trade and effectively uses the room exception as a trade exception.