The Charlotte Hornets dominated the Detroit Pistons with a 141-119 victory on Friday, giving them their seventh straight loss.
Both teams started out hot offensively. The Hornets made five of their first six shot attempts, while Detroit hit seven of their first 11, due to poor defense and turnovers by the Hornets.
After Hornets’ coach James Borrego called a timeout, the contest turned into a high school pickup game. There were ill-advised shots, fouls that should have been called and defense was spotty at best. The Hornets came out of the chaos on top. Montrezl Harrell, who the Hornets acquired in a trade with the Washington Wizards on Thursday, entered the game. He rejected a shot immediately and then deposited his first dunk a few possessions later. Harrell ended the quarter with three dunks to go along side LaMello Ball’s 11 points. At the end of the first quarter, the Hornets led by seven, 36-29.
After five quick points by the Pistons Saddiq Bey, the Hornets went on a 12-0 surge, as the Pistons failed to contain the Hornets in transition. Charlotte’s defense relaxed and allowed the Pistons to score a few easy baskets, but they recovered.
Terry Rozier went on a personal 11-0 run, as the Hornets scored 70 points by the 2:58 mark of the second quarter. The Hornets finished the quarter with 43 points, to give them a franchise record 79 first half points. They led 79-55 going into half time.
Charlotte came out of the locker room with the same intensity that they had for the first 24 minutes. They scored 11 points relatively quickly, but they seemed to let their foot off the gas once they hit the 90 point mark. The Hornets defense went awry and they forced contested outside shots.
The Pistons went on a 8-0 run in that stretch, but Ball responded with back to back shots from downtown, restoring order. The Hornets got to 100 points, with 4:25 remaining in the third. They led by 23 points heading into the final stanza, 110-87.
The Hornets continued their dominance, leaving no doubt to the outcome of the game starting the fourth quarter. Miles Bridges finished some creative layups at the rim and Harrell scored off a couple of offensive rebounds to put the game out of reach. Charlotte entered the game with six straight defeats, but the effort level was the big difference in this game.
Bey had a team-high 25 points for the Pistons. He also had four rebounds and three assists. Hamidou Diallo scored 16 points, had seven boards and three steals. Jeremy Grant contributed 15 points, three rebounds and three assists. Isaiah Stewart had a double-double with 15 points 12 boards and one assists.
Ball had a great all-around game with a game-high 31 points for the Hornets. He also had five rebounds, 12 assist and four steals. Rozier had his first triple-double as a member of the Hornets scoring 25 points, with 10 rebounds and 11 assists. Bridges contributed 25 points, with four rebounds, three assists and two steals. Harrell had 15 points in his debut, along with six rebounds, one assist and one steal.
The Pistons travel to Washington to face Kristaps Porzingis and the Wizards on Monday. The Hornets will host Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies on the second of a back to back on Saturday.
© Copyright - 730 The Game ESPN