The Pistons never took the lead in tonight’s game.
The Detroit Pistons (19-37) lost their third straight game tonight to the Charlotte Hornets (17-36) 87-76. A hook shot from Hornets’ forward PJ Washington gave the Hornets a 6-2 lead early in the first quarter, and the Pistons were never able to recover. The Pistons went into halftime trailing 47-37 and made things interesting in the third quarter with a Bruce Brown Jr. shot cutting the Hornets lead to just four, but a strong fourth quarter from the Hornets sealed this game away.
Derrick Rose (hip) did not play in tonight’s game, and after dropping out of the All-Star Skills Challenge last week, it’s likely we won’t see Rose in action again until sometime after the All-Star break. Svi Mykhailiuk joined Rose on the sidelines tonight. Svi is also nursing a hip injury. Svi was listed as questionable heading into tonight’s game, so Svi may be closer to returning to action than his back-court teammate.
Luke Kennard (knee), who has been out since December 23rd, is expected to return to the court sometime after the All-Star break. Luke was having a career year prior to his injury, averaging a career-high 15.8 points per game.
Pistons’ big man Christian Wood had his toughest outing as a Pistons starter tonight, finishing with 10 points, eight rebounds on 4-of-9 shooting from the floor. Prior to tonight’s defeat, Wood was averaging 22 points, 11.5 rebounds, a block, and three triples a game in his two previous games as a starter. Thon Maker finished tonight’s game with a double-double, scoring 12 points while pulling down 12 rebounds. Bruce Brown Jr. also notched a double-double, scoring 10 points, while pulling down 12 rebounds and dishing out five assists in tonight’s defeat.
For the Hornets, former MSU Spartan Miles Bridges led the charge, scoring a game-high 18 points. Malik Monk came off the bench for the Hornets and scored 17 points.
The Pistons will have tomorrow off before they go back on the road to face the Orlando Magic this Wednesday at 7 PM.
