We broke the story ... Puig was sued in 2020 by a woman using the pseudonym, Jane Doe -- who claims Yasiel followed her into a bathroom at Staples Center during the Lakers game on Oct. 31, 2018, and sexually assaulted her.

The woman later claimed she did NOT know Puig before the alleged incident.

Now, Puig is firing back ... claiming it was the woman who initiated the sexual encounter.

"Let me be clear and set the record straight once and for all: these allegations are totally false," Puig said in a statement.

"The evidence proves they are false, and I look forward to all the facts and the truth coming out.”

"The fact is that I had consensual sex with a woman I met at a Lakers game after she propositioned me."

"Afterward, we talked about going out together, but she said she did not want her fiancé to find out. We messaged each other afterward and plan to get together again, but we never did. She’s now suing me based on completely made up allegations."

Puig's attorneys, Alan Jackson and Caleb Mason, claim they have Instagram messages and text messages which show "she initiated contact with Mr. Puig earlier that evening."

"[The accuser] had designs on meeting him, and she sent him repeated Instagram messages along with her cell phone number and a heart emoji -- all unsolicited by Mr. Puig."

"After the game [the accuser] sought out Mr. Puig in person at the Chairman's Club [at Staples Center] and asked him to go into a bathroom with her for a consensual sexual encounter."

Puig's attorneys claim the two continued to message each other in the days and weeks after the incident ... with the accuser sending him a "series of affectionate and endearing messages" that aren't consistent with someone who was sexually assaulted.