LeBron James was ejected from a game after elbowing Detroit's Isaiah Stewart in the face during a game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Detroit Pistons.

James was ejected after injuring Stewart in the face while the pair were battling for a rebounding position, marking the second time in which the Lakers' star has been ejected in his career.

Stewart, who was cut above the right eye, repeatedly tried to confront James and get back at him, leading to a tense situation between players from both teams.

Several coaches and security members joined to scatter the crowd, with 9 minutes and 18 seconds remaining in the third quarter and the Lakers leading 79-67.

The Lakers and Pistons had to be separated multiple times after this play between LeBron and Isaiah Stewart. pic.twitter.com/im0o7fXeoI

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) November 22, 2021

Anthony Davis, who scored a team-high 30 points, defended his teammate after the game.

"Everyone in the league knows that (James) isn’t a dirty guy. As soon as he did it, he looked back and told him, 'My bad. I didn't try to do it.' I don't know what (Stewart) was trying to do," he said.

Following a video review, James was given a flagrant foul and ejected from the court, Stewart was handed two technical fouls and thrown out, and Lakers guard Russell Westbrook was called for a technical foul.

James finished with 10 points and five assists, with the match ending at a 121-116 score for the Lakers.

Commenting on the incident, Lakers coach Frank Vogel said he was relieved to see that events didn't escalate further.

"Our guys did a good job of protecting our teammate. You want peacekeepers in those situations. Forming a wall around a teammate and standing up before it turned into something uglier."

The only other time James has been ejected from a game was in November 2017 against the Miami Heat.

For his part, Pistons coach Dwane Casey pointed out that Stewart "was upset for a reason, but I don't think LeBron is a dirty player."