Charlotte Hornets vs Detroit Pistons
February 3, 2023
The Hornets continued their February tour of the Midwest when they visited Detroit on the second game of a back-to-back. The Pistons were on their own two-game losing streak. The matchup was between two teams with the worst record and may end up having draft order implications for who gets a shot at the top two picks.
This game was a tightly contested affair. The Pistons finished the first half with a one-point lead. Ball really struggled shooting the ball, starting the game going 5/16 from the floor and posting a (-6) in his 21 minutes of court play. The rest of the squad had their leader’s back and shot the ball at a 59% clip that helped the Hornets to a 68-point half. If not for the 17-point Bojan Bogdanović performance, the Hornets likely would’ve had the lead.
Rozier’s 10-point burst gave the Hornets a two-point lead heading into the fourth quarter. No matter how much the Pistons tried to shake the Hornets, Charlotte hung around in what was a low-scoring quarter for each side most of the way. Finally, a Saddiq Bey corner three broke the 112-112 tie to give the Pistons the lead (and Bey 22 points) for good.