The Detroit Pistons found a way and it was not easy to pass their first test without their star guard Jaden Ivey.
They defeated the Charlotte Hornets at home in Little Caesars Arena by four, 98-94, in their first game since Ivey underwent surgery Thursday morning to repair a broken left fibula. Ivey will be sidelined for at least a month, with the Pistons medical team setting a tentative re-evaluation window of four weeks. Simone Fontecchio (personal reasons) also sat out his second straight game.
With 19.3 seconds left on the clock, Cade Cunningham sank one of two free throws to give the Pistons a three-point lead, 97-94. A block on the next possession by defensive tone setter Jalen Duren on Hornets wing Josh Green helped them seal the victory. Ausar Thompson bricked a pair of foul shots with 13.1 seconds to play, but he made up for it by forcing a missed 3 by Flint native (and Michigan State alumnus) Miles Bridges on the other end.
With 0.9 seconds left, Tim Hardaway Jr. split another trip at the line to ice the game. The Pistons, (16-18 overall), who are growing by leaps and bounds in front of our very eyes, now are now on a hot streak, winning five of six games. Veteran Tobias Harris, who is on his second tour of duty with the organization, led the Pistons with a double-double, 24 points and added 10 boards in 36 minutes of playing time, while Duren finished with 10 points and 14 rebounds. Cunningham added 18 points on 8-for-20 from the field despite being saddled with fouls for the lions’ share of the contest and Malik Beasley had 12 points off the bench despite being ice cold from beyond the arc, hitting just one of 10 3-point attempts.
Miles Bridges had 20 points and Mark Williams scored 18 for the Hornets, who have lost nine in a row.
The Hornets were without their two best players, LaMelo Ball (left ankle, right wrist sprain) and Brandon Miller (left ankle sprain).
The Pistons came out flat, not showing the required physicality and hustle in the first half, allowing the Hornets to shoot a blistering 54.8% overall. Combined with an unfavorable whistle, the Hornets had taken 16 more free throws by halftime, they were unable to get into a rhythm on either end of the court and trailed by 13, 65-52 at halftime.
Things turned around quickly in the second half. The Pistons resembled the ‘Bad Boys’ of the mid to late 80’s, opening the third quarter with a 27-13 surge and took the lead by the slimmest of margins, 79-78, with 3:25 on the clock. It was their first lead since the 4:08 mark of the first quarter.
They won the lopsided frame by 15 points, 32-17, tightened up defensively by holding the Hornets to 6-for-18 (33.3%) shooting, and capped the quarter with a monster rejection by Isaiah Stewart that brought the sellout crowd to its feet, followed by a transition dunk by Thompson.
Caleb Martin tried to poster Stewart with a one-handed dunk, but the big man rose to the summit with him and said access denied, sending the ball downcourt.
Before tip-off, head coach J.B. Bickerstaff acknowledged that the Pistons will give multiple players a shot at filling the big shoes left by Ivey in the starting lineup. The first player to get a crack, though, was a surprise.
Wendell Moore Jr., who had been used only sparingly, playing in mop up duty in two of the team’s previous 10 games, was named a starter for the first time this season. Bickerstaff noted that he would have to find a happy medium between giving young players an opportunity to show what they could do in an expanded role while not interrupting the chemistry players have already found in their current roles.
Starting Moore, presumably, was to minimize the adjustments made to the starting lineup, with another starter potentially emerging when the Pistons host Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday (7 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network Detroit).
“You’ve played 30-something games now and guys have gotten comfortable in their roles, so now your decision is, do you shift a guy’s role and does that make him uncomfortable?” Bickerstaff said pregame. “Guys have gotten used to playing in certain groups and certain pairings. How do you make the adjustment? Does that disrupt, because you move a guy into a different spot and now, he’s playing with a different group.
“All those things play in — your matchups, what do you do defensively, how do you keep size at that position. All of those things go into it. We thought about it, coaching staff has gone through it. Eventually guys will get opportunities and we’ll settle on something when we get comfortable.”
Ivey’s injury also created an opportunity for Marcus Sasser, who replaced Cunningham in the starting lineup with 2:49 to play in the opening period. Sasser played 22 minutes, his highest total since logging 25:59 on November 30.
The Pistons finished the first quarter cold, connecting on just 39.1% of their attempts and trailing by five at the end of the period. Rookie Ron Holland, who checked into the game for Thompson with just a minute left in the quarter, gave the team a needed boost, as the Hornets threatened to pull away.
The rookie scored nine points in five minutes, ending the stint with an offensive rebound and layup to make it a one possession affair, 40-38. He buried a triple and penetrated through Charlotte’s defense for a pair of layups, the latter in transition off a steal by Paul Reed.
It is a small sample size, but Holland has been on fire, drilling seven of his past 15 attempts from 3 (46.7%) and has hit 66% of his shots at the rim, a solid rate for a wing. He has not played more than 20 minutes in a game since December 16, but he has found ways to do the dirty work and make an impact in short bursts.
The Hornets continue their road trip on Sunday against Donovan Mitchell the Cleveland Cavaliers.
