After last game against the Hornets that featured a Brandon Miller tip-in at the buzzer, the Detroit Pistons were looking for revenge in Charlotte. There are similarities between the two teams that feature promising young potential on the roster. This was certainly a game in which you could use Ausar Thompson’s defense against Charlotte’s length in LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller – he was upgraded to doubtful for tonight, however, so his return is getting closer!
The start to the first quarter was rough – Jaden Ivey picked up two fouls in the first four minutes and his replacement, Malik Beasley, played for just over a minute before he picked up two fouls as well. Wendell Moore Jr was playing at the seven-minute mark in the first quarter and there were five foul calls on the Pistons before there was one on Charlotte, so things were weird.
Detroit was down 23-12 with four minutes left in the first and looked a little more settled in after that. Ron Holland hit a three and Cade made a couple tough layups to close the quarter with Charlotte up 33-27. Cade led the way for the Pistons with eight points and five assists and the Hornets shot 6-for-10 from deep.
Things started getting chippy after a Tidjane Salaun and Simone Fontecchio confrontation. Maybe that’s what triggered a Pistons 6-0 run to start the second quarter to tie the game at 33. Both teams battled as it remained tied halfway through the quarter at 46, but a 12-4 Hornets run behind four straight three-point makes forced JB Bickerstaff to call a timeout down 58-50 with 3:50 until the half. Detroit was able to bring it back within four as Charlotte led 63-59 at halftime. Given the team looked tired defensively along with the Hornets bringing more energy, the Pistons were in a good spot to still win the game.
Cade led Detroit with 13 points and six assists, while Tobias had 12 points and six rebounds. Malik Beasley and Isaiah Stewart added nine and seven points, respectively. Everyone’s favorite stat had Jalen Duren -16 and Isaiah Stewart +12 in the first half – fun!
Detroit shot 45% from the field and 29% from three – Charlotte comparably shot 46% from the field, but were 12-for-25 (48%) from deep. LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller both had 18 points. It felt no different than the Bulls game where Chicago hit some crazy threes but Detroit didn’t do themselves any favors defensively.
A quick 8-2 run by Charlotte opened the second half to lead to a JBB timeout – Charlotte hit two more open threes as things began to look the same as they did in the first half. Things got worse until a Cade Cunningham three late in the shot clock stopped the bleeding. Malik Beasley followed that up with three of his own, which forced a Charlotte timeout up to 77-67.
LaMelo Ball responded with seven of his own points and an alley-oop assist as it was announced that both Tobias Harris and Tim Hardaway Jr were in the locker room. With Marcus Sasser and Wendell Moore checked into the game, Melo hit a circus three for his 31st point to put Charlotte up 20. The Hornets led 93-79 to finish the third. Out of the Pistons’ 20 third-quarter points, Cade had half of them. But Detroit had 16 turnovers to Charlotte’s six and struggled to hang with the Hornets’ hot shooting.
Tobias Harris returned from the locker room to reenter the game in the fourth, who instantly hit a three to bring the Pistons’ deficit to 11. His next shot was another made three from the corner to cut it to eight, but Cade dribbled the ball off his leg as he was starting the next possession for another Detroit turnover to hand the ball back to Charlotte – that sequence summed up this game pretty well.
Detroit kept battling back as a Jalen Duren and-one got them back within five points – it was the closest the game had been since a minute into the third quarter. A foul call on Ivey that was challenged by JB Bickerstaff was overturned to give LaMelo Ball an offensive foul and his fifth total of the night with 3:26 left in the game.
Tobias Harris hit his third three of the fourth quarter to make it 107-105. After a great defensive possession by Duren guarding LaMelo, Jaden Ivey got through the lane to tie it up at 107. After JBB subbed in Isaiah Stewart, he immediately got a steal off Brandon Miller and Cade Cunningham took a big fall on a Grant Williams foul call that resulted in a coach’s challenge from Charlotte, though, it was unsuccessful.
Cade knocked down both free throws to take a 109-107 lead after a 10-0 run. A LaMelo Ball layup with 25 seconds left tied at 109. Malik Beasley, with a chance to redeem himself after not boxing out Brandon Miller after last game’s loss to the Hornets, missed a floater and an additional layup after grabbing his own miss. Charlotte called a timeout with 1.2 seconds left, but couldn’t get a shot off in time as the game went to overtime tied at 109. Detroit outscored Charlotte 30-16 in the fourth quarter.
The overtime period started off in a blaze as Cade Cunningham started the game on the bench and LaMelo Ball picked up his sixth foul immediately. Cade was ruled out with a hip injury and finished with 27 points, seven rebounds, and 10 assists. Tobias Harris hit another corner three off a beautiful Beef Stew bounce pass for Detroit’s first points of the period.
A Tre Mann circus layup gave the Hornets the lead 113-112 as it was clear both teams missed their star point guards – overtime offense was sloppy, and both teams were committing turnovers. Charlotte’s prayers were answered after Brandon Miller hit a big-time three after a BLOB timeout with 1.2 seconds left on the shot block to extend the lead 116-112.
After Brandon Miller got ANOTHER tip-in layup, an Isaiah Stewart layup with 53 seconds left made it a one-possession game again – but Miller responded by drilling his eight-three for his 38th point of the game. Jaden Ivey was able to hit his first three of the game to keep it close, and Detroit had a chance down 123-120 with six seconds left, but Charlotte fouled to prevent any three-point attempts. Ivey successfully missed the last free throw, but the Pistons couldn’t recover the rebound in time to tie the game, and Detroit lost 123-121.
Detroit will be awaiting news on Cade Cunningham and Tim Hardaway Jr as they suffered injuries and did not return, though, both watched overtime from the bench. Tobias Harris carried the load with Cade sidelined and finished with 26 points and eight rebounds, including going 6-for-9 from three. Everybody else struggled to shoot, specifically from the guard position, as Cade, Ivey, Beasley, and THJ all shot below 35% from the field. Jalen Duren had five points and nine rebounds in 24 minutes, and Isaiah Stewart had 13 points and nine rebounds in 29 minutes.
Charlotte’s team scored 50 points if you take away the production from LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller, who combined for 73. Miller was 8-for-12 from deep and Ball made seven of his eight attempts from the line. This was another game where they struggled to defend from the perimeter as the Hornets shot 20-for-44 (46%) from deep.
If there’s anything the last two games have proven, it’s this: this team desperately needs Ausar Thompson. Detroit is a team that lacks a consistent defensive presence on the perimeter despite the improvements we’ve seen out of Cade and Ivey so far on that end of the floor. Cade looked half a step too slow on multiple closeouts that resulted in made threes for Charlotte. They have no one that other teams fear in the closing minutes of a game outside of Isaiah Stewart, but JBB at least used him to close tonight and he played more minutes than Duren.
Detroit plays again on Saturday night when they travel to Orlando to take on the Magic.