After things got messy in last game’s brawl, the late season rematch lived up to the hype, but Charlotte couldn’t hang on for a full-48 as Detroit would outscore the Hornets by 15 in the fourth quarter to win 118-100.
This one picked up right where the last one left off.
Tensions were still high as Brandon Miller flushed a dunk quickly after tip-off and landed on Duncan Robinson. Robinson took issue with it as the two exchanged shoves and were split up by Jalen Duren. We were not even two minutes into
the game before last game’s antics bled into this one. Even George Blaha made his frustrations known with Charlotte’s behavior.
Ron Holland was able to get 10 straight points for Detroit late in the quarter. He hit back-to-back threes and also had two patented Holland Hustle baskets. His shot looks confident and he earned the halftime interview with Johnny Kane. I’ve enjoyed hearing Blaha describe Ron as “Mr. Hustle” when he’s on the court. The Pistons took a 36-30 lead over Charlotte at the end of the first.
If you like defense, this game wasn’t for you. That might not be totally fair to Ausar Thompson who continues to make an argument for Defensive Player of the Year, but Charlotte was shooting (and making) a ton of threes. Ausar did his best to disrupt the Hornets, and you can go ahead and put this film on his DPOY highlight reel:
Detroit took a 68-65 lead heading into halftime. They were led by Duren with 14 points and Cade with 12 points and three assists. It was Cade Cunningham’s second game back from his collapsed lung and he looked every bit of his former self as he consistently got to his spots in the midrange. Charlotte shot an insane 28 (!) threes in the first half, making 11 of them. For comparison, Detroit has played in 27 games where they took 28 or less threes this season.
Duren picked up his fourth foul early in the third quarter so Isaiah Stewart and Paul Reed saw plenty of playing time. Charlotte was able to claim the lead 76-74 halfway through the third thanks to another LaMelo Ball three-pointer, but a Tobias Harris three forced the Hornets to call a timeout after Detroit responded with a 13-7 run. Robinson knocked down an and-one three-pointer over Kon Knueppel, showing the rookie that he’s not the only one who’s a flamethrower from deep.
At the start of the final frame, Detroit led 93-90. They finally decided to put Charlotte away and opened the quarter on a 15-2 run thanks to Daniss Jenkins and Duren. Duren picked up his fifth foul with seven minutes left while Detroit had a 108-92 lead. After Cunningham swatted a Knueppel layup, Charles Lee waved the white flag by emptying the Charlotte bench.
Live by three, die by the three – tonight, the Hornets died by the three. After shooting 11-for-28 in the first half, Charlotte shot 2-for-19 the rest of the way and only scored 10 points in the final quarter. Detroit would win easily 118-100.
No player played more than 28 minutes (Cade) and the starters spent half the game on the bench, but they still made their impacts felt. Duren finished with 20 points and nine rebounds in only 22 minutes, shooting 8-for-11 from the field. Duncan followed with 19 points while he and Ron Holland had a team-high three made three-pointers. Cade added 14 points and Holland added 13. Ausar finished with 12 points, five rebounds, six assists, three steals, and one block.
The Pistons will travel to Indianapolis for their final game of the season on Sunday night where their 60th win of the season will be on the line.
Go Stones.
