Detroit Drops Charlotte...Again

The Hornets move to 15-39 on the season.

DETROIT, MI - For the second time in a row, the Detroit Pistons defeated the Charlotte Hornets. This time, the Hornets fell 118-112 making for a winless three-game road trip.

Thanks to an ice storm that hit Dallas earlier in the week, the Pistons came into tonight's contest on three full days rest while the Hornets were on the back end of a back-to-back and playing their third game in four days. The way this one started, it looked exactly like a battle of a rested team versus one that was fatigued. Detroit popped out to a 15-5 lead, nine of which came via the three ball. The Hornets finally settled into the swing of things and took a 30-29 lead into the second.

It was a fast paced, up and down game in the first half as both teams wasted very little time getting into their offense. Shots were going down left and right but that didn't carry over to the second half for either squad.

The Hornets struggled to knock down shots from three once again, finishing the night 9/34, including miserable performance in the fourth. Charlotte squandered a five-point lead midway through the final quarter because of their inability to make shots. LaMelo Ball, however, did tie the game back up at 112-112 by hitting a pair at the line. With 32 seconds left in the fourth, the Charlotte native Saddiq Bey swished in a three from the corner to put Detroit back on top. Mason Plumlee failed to get the ball inbounded following a timeout, resulting in a five second violation. Charlotte fouled and Alec Burks put the game away with a couple of free throws.

"Five turnovers in one quarter...it's going to be hard to win any night," said Hornets head coach Steve Clifford. "We missed five free throws in a quarter, that's going to be hard to overcome. And we were 1/7 from three and which they just told me in there, six of them were good shots. And then obviously we had the two in the lane that were point blank that we didn't finish. We actually put ourselves in a chance in a back-to-back on the road and you know, sometimes, you gotta make the plays. The plays were there to be made, we just didn't make them."

The Hornets will fly back home for another Sunday afternoon game against the Orlando Magic. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. EST.

1ST: CHA 30-29

CHA: 11/27 FG | 3/10 3FG | 10 REB | 5 AST | 1 TO | 16 PIP

DET: 11/26 FG | 4/10 3FG | 19 REB | 7 AST | 6 TO | 14 PIP

2ND: DET 69-68

CHA: 24/48 FG | 5/16 3FG | 17 REB | 13 AST | 5 TO | 36 PIP

DET: 27/47 FG | 8/16 3FG | 24 REB | 17 AST | 13 TO | 34 PIP

3RD: CHA 94-92

CHA: 34/72 FG | 8/27 3FG | 30 REB | 19 AST | 9 TO | 48 PIP

DET: 37/71 FG | 11/26 3FG | 38 REB | 22 AST | 18 TO | 48 PIP

4TH: DET wins 118-112

CHA: 40/90 FG | 9/34 3FG | 37 REB | 22 AST | 14 TO | 58 PIP

DET: 44/86 FG | 14/32 3FG | 51 REB | 27 AST | 23 TO | 56 PIP

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