When bad teams get together, good basketball rarely follows.
But fun basketball? Ohhhh yeah, there’s fun basketball.
That’s what made Tuesday’s game between the Detroit Pistons and Charlotte Hornets so good. Neither team was at full-strength and neither team played any defense — but the final result was an offensive explosion and an overtime finish.
Killian Hayes did it all as Detroit, vulnerable at times in the fourth quarter, rallied in OT to come away with an exciting 141-134 win over the Hornets in a battle of Wemby Contenders.
Detroit wavered at times, but three late 3-pointers from Hayes in the fourth and overtime helped to keep them from wilting. Alec Burks and Bojan Bogdanovic also chipped in during the extra period as the Hornets finally went cold from downtown.
Hayes was the star though, and he started hot, scoring 12 points in the first quarter as he took advantage of some very lackluster defense by LaMelo Ball. The Hornets star finished with 23 points and 11 assists, but fouled out late in the fourth quarter.
Hayes was the better point guard on Tuesday, thanks to his start and finish.
The middle of the game? It was a struggle — both from the field (missing 5 of his next 6 shots) and with foul trouble. But when the Pistons needed someone to take control after the Hornets took a 120-117 lead in the fourth, it was Hayes who delivered.
Isaiah Stewart had a quiet first half with 4 points, but really played well in the third quarter. He hit a triple to start play before flashing a number of impressive off-the-bounce finishes, scoring 11 of his 19 points in the third.
He finished with 11 boards and hit 2 of his 3 shots from downtown. It was just a very impressive showing slammed home (literally) by this finish in the third:
Alec Burks, too, had his way with the non-existent Hornets’ defense, hitting triples, pull-up mid-rangers and getting to the line. He scored a big 5 points in OT, including a 3-pointer fresh off the bench after the Hornets had taken the lead.
He’s clearly the best off-the-bench guard option they’ve had since Luke Kennard in 2018-19.
Duren had a few huge blocks late, and grabbed a career-high 19 rebounds, but was a mess around the basket as he missed six of his eight shots. Duren does a lot of stuff well. He still does not understand a lot of the basic big man things.
That’s why a whatever big like Plumlee gave him fits.
JadeN Ivey had a quietly effective game, taking better shots and better care of the ball. He finished with 13 points, three rebounds and four assists.
The only bummer tonight, unless, of course, you like defense, was that Marvin Bagley III tweaked his right knee and did not return. I’ve loved what the Stew-Duren pairing has been able to do. Hopefully Bagley’s injury doesn’t lead Dwane Casey to shelve that.
Anyways, what did y’all think of tonight’s game? Let us know in the comments!