Charlotte Hornets fall to the Detroit Pistons in season opener, 102-90

Turnovers doomed the Charlotte Hornets’ chances of beating the Detroit Pistons as Tobias Harris carried the home team.

The Charlotte Hornets (0-1) were defeated by the Detroit Pistons (1-0) in their regular-season opener. Kemba Walker‘s 24 points weren’t enough to overcome the team’s turnovers and struggles on defense. The Hornets had no answer for Tobias Harris who put up a monster double-double with 27 points and 10 rebounds.

The absences of Nicolas Batum and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist was noticeable for Charlotte. Without MKG, the team was missing their best perimeter defender. After missing the entire preseason, Julyan Stone returned and made his debut for the Hornets. Michael Carter-Williams sat out as he continues to recover from a procedure on both knees. Johnny O’Bryant was the only healthy player on the roster that didn’t see minutes in this one.

Game Story

This was largely a one-sided affair as Detroit led for a majority of the night and was up by as much as 18 points in the fourth quarter. The second quarter was the turning point as the Pistons outscored the Hornets 27-18. As for the other three periods combined, Charlotte was only outscored by three total points. Looking at the game, turnovers changed the affair as Steve Clifford’s side uncharacteristically committed 17.

Player of the Game

Kemba Walker was Charlotte’s best player as he finished with a team-high 24 points to go along with six rebounds and four assists. Although he was -11 in +/-, the point guard carried his team down the stretch as they attempted to make a late comeback. He did a great job of forcing contact and getting to the line as Walker went 11-13 from the charity stripe.

In his debut, Dwight Howard managed to put up a double-double with 10 points and 15 boards. He also recorded two blocks but struggled in the second half after scoring eight of his points in the first two quarters. Jeremy Lamb scored 15 while Frank Kaminsky, Malik Monk and Marvin Williams combined to score only 14 points on 4-23 shooting from the field.

Outside of Tobias Harris, the Pistons were led by Langston Galloway who scored 16 points off of the bench and Avery Bradley who ended with 15 points. Henry Ellenson and Reggie Jackson both scored 13 as Andre Drummond came up just short of a double-double with eight points and 13 rebounds.

Highlight of the Game:

Tweet of the Game:

Also, I haven’t seen Kemba work THIS hard for buckets since Lance was in town….
— 'Nata Edwards (@NataTheScribe) October 19, 2017

"Quick Stings"

Dwayne Bacon started at small forward and scored eight points in his debut.
After missing the preseason, Treveon Graham scored five points in 17 minutes.
This game featured four ties and two lead changes.
Charlotte was outscored 44-30 in points in the paint and they allowed 25 points off turnovers.
The Hornets only shot 39.7% (29-73) from the field and 30% (9-30) from three.

With the loss, Charlotte falls to 0-1 on the season against Detroit. After losing their only preseason meeting and three of their four games against the Pistons last season, this isn’t a good start to the matchup for the Hornets. The two sides will next meet on January 15th in Detroit.

Next: Kemba says that Dwight is a 'Game Changer'

In their next game, the Hornets will face off against the Atlanta Hawks on Friday, October 20th. It will be Charlotte’s home opener and Dwight Howard’s first game against his former team. Steve Clifford’s side will look to bounce back and get their first win of the 2017-18 season.

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