Recap report: Charlotte Hornets and emerging patterns
By W.B. Whitted
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.