Pesky Pistons Spoil LaMelo Ball's Return

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - LaMelo Ball made his return to the Hornets' lineup Wednesday night after missing the last eleven games with a sprained ankle and posted a solid outing with 23 points and 11 assists. Unfortunately, Ball's return couldn't be celebrated to the fullest extent as the Detroit Pistons defeated the Hornets 141-131 in overtime.

Charlotte did a lot right on the offensive end in the first half, yet found themselves trailing Detroit 73-69. Ball security has been one area the Hornets have improved in as the season has progressed and the turnovers were non-existent through the first 24 minutes of play. Yes, zero turnovers.

Kelly Oubre Jr. scored the first eight points for Charlotte in the second quarter before the rest of the gang got involved. Jalen McDaniels produced some quality minutes off the bench, which is a more comfortable role for him, chipping in 15 points in the first half. He attacked the basket time and time again, but did have one very impressive three in the corner that was heavily contested with the shot clock winding down.

The problem was on the other end of the floor where the Hornets gave up several easy looks near the basket. More bad fouling led to 21 Detroit free throw attempts in just two quarters of play. As head coach Steve Clifford mentioned the other day, it's hard to win games when you're gifting the opposing team points at the charity stripe. Even when Detroit didn't score it close, they got the ball deep into the paint and kicked it out to get some wide-open looks on the perimeter. Killian Hayes did some damage in the early going, mostly from mid-range but it was Alec Burks (3-4 3FG, 1H) that became problematic beyond the arc.

Detroit slowly built up a double-digit lead late in the third via an 18-6 run, pushing their lead to 108-93. Charlotte got the three-ball going in the opening minutes of the fourth, hitting three straight from deep to close the gap to just two, 110-108. The 11-3 run prompted Dwane Casey to call a timeout to put an end to the bleeding. Jalen McDaniels hit a three a few minutes later to knot the game up at 11, but Detroit answered with a Kevin Knox II pull-up and back-to-back slams by Isaiah Stewart to grab the lead back.

Terry Rozier hit a tough three in the corner in front of the Pistons bench to grab the lead 120-117. However, Killian Hayes hit two threes to not only regain the lead, but go up by five with less than two minutes left. Rozier came up clutch once again with yet another three right in front of the Detroit bench to cut it to one. LaMelo Ball fouled Jalen Duren in the paint the next trip up the floor, fouling him out of the game. Duren split the free throws which opened the door for Charlotte to tie or take the lead. Mason Plumlee tipped at the ball a couple times off an offensive rebound before finally getting it to fall, tying the game with 12 seconds. Bogdanovic settled for a contested mid-range jumper and missed. Theo Maledon corralled the rebound and the Hornets called timeout with 1.3 on the clock. Rozier hoisted a three up at the buzzer that looked like it was going in, but it rimmed out sending the game to overtime.

With less than two minutes left in OT, Alec Burks and Killian Hayes each hit tough threes, giving the Pistons a 138-134 lead. A block by Duren and a missed three from Rozier all but sealed the deal for the Hornets as Hayes knocked down a pair of free throws to put the game out of reach.

The Hornets will be back at it on Friday night as they host the Atlanta Hawks. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. EST.

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