The Charlotte Hornets’ Miles Bridges said he was “aiming for the guy that was screaming at me” after accidentally hitting a young fan with a gumshield he threw into the stands.
Bridges had been ejected from the Hornets’ 132-103 loss at the Atlanta Hawks when he reacted to fan abuse.
The gumshield missed its target and hit a teenage girl sitting nearby.
“That’s definitely unacceptable on my part,” said Bridges, as the Hawks advanced in the East’s ‘play-in’ event.
The Hawks will take on the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday to decide who takes the eighth and final spot from the division and the chance to meet the top-seeded Miami Heat in the opening round of the postseason.
Bridges’ season came to an acrimonious end after the incident on the way to the locker room following his ejection for two technical fouls.
“I was aiming for the guy that was screaming at me and it hit a little girl,” he said afterwards.
“That’s out of character for me. So that was definitely wrong, a lot of emotions and hopefully I can get in contact with the young girl and sincerely apologise to her and do something nice for her, but that’s definitely on me.”
Trae Young scored 14 of his 24 points in the third quarter as the home side pulled away to victory. LaMelo Ball top-scored for the Hornets with 26 points.
The New Orleans Pelicans saw off the San Antonio Spurs 113-103 to book their place in the Western Conference’s final play-in match against the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday.
CJ McCollum scored 32 points and Brandon Ingram added 27 for the Pelicans.
The winner of their meeting with the Clippers on Friday will face the Phoenix Suns in the first round of the play-offs.
