Points Off Turnovers Fuel Charlotte’s Offense, Bey’s Late 3-Pointer the Difference for Detroit
The Charlotte Hornets were knocking on the door of ending their tough all-Midwest three-game road trip on a high note on Friday night in Detroit, but a series of mismanaged possessions in the final 90 seconds led to a disappointing 118-112 road loss to the Pistons.
LaMelo Ball and Terry Rozier both had 23 points in the loss, with the former adding eight rebounds, eight assists and a career-high-tying five steals to his statline. For Rozier, this marked his fifth consecutive 20-point game and ninth straight game featuring multiple 3-pointers.
This one was fairly close for most of the night with neither team getting much separation until an 8-0 run midway through the fourth put the Hornets up, 104-97. Detroit responded though, using a 15-5 stretch to go in front by three with 90 seconds remaining. Following a game-tying and-1 from Ball and empty possessions by both sides, the Hornets lost track of Saddiq Bey in the corner, resulting in a go-ahead 3-pointer for Detroit. Charlotte then committed a five-second violation on the inbounds, leading to a pair of game-icing Alec Burks free throws.
“Five turnovers in one quarter, it’s going to be hard to win,” said Hornets Head Coach Steve Clifford afterwards, when asked about the team’s play in the closing frame. “We missed five free throws in a quarter. That’s going to be hard to overcome and we were 1-of-7 from three, of which, six of them were good shots. We had the two [attempts] in the lane that were point blank that we didn’t finish. We gave ourselves a chance in a back-to-back on the road. Sometimes you just have to make the plays. The plays were there to be made and we didn’t make them.”
Jalen McDaniels (14 points), Mason Plumlee (13) and Gordon Hayward (12) also finished in double figures for a Charlotte squad that shot 44.4%, but only 9-of-34 from 3-point range (26.5%). The Hornets did swipe a season-high 16 steals, scored 30 points off 23 Detroit turnovers and had a plus-13 differential in fast-break scoring (15-2). Their offense struggled in non-transition situations though, particularly down the stretch late in crunch time.
Added Clifford, “Our best game like any other team, you need a balance of offense. You’re not going to win just running. The way we play now, you’re not going to win by just scoring in the half-court. You’ve got to have different ways to play. I think for us, scoring early in possessions is really great. Our better games are where we’re efficient in the half-court, also.”
Rookie Jaden Ivey (24), Bey (22) and Bojan Bogdanović (21) all had 20-point showings to help the Pistons snap a seven-game head-to-head home losing streak to the Hornets. Jalen Duren double-doubled with 13 points and 13 rebounds and fellow big man Isaiah Stewart nearly did so as well, finishing with eight points, a game-high 16 rebounds and a career-high six assists.
The Hornets will briefly return home for another matinee outing against the Orlando Magic on Sunday, Feb. 5 starting at 1 PM ET. Catch all the action on Bally Sports Southeast and WFNZ FM 92.7.
