Pesky Pistons Take Down Hornets in Overtime

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The Detroit Pistons snapped a 15-game losing streak to the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday night with a 127-126 road win in overtime, dropping the Hornets back to two games under .500.

Surprisingly, the Pistons found a lot of success getting to the rim even with the Hornets playing a bigger lineup of P.J. Washington and Mason Plumlee. Saddiq Bey really went after it notching 13 points in the opening quarter, ten of which came inside the paint.

The Hornets got a spark off the bench from Cody Martin who was initially doubtful to play in the game due to lower back tightness, but gave it a go and provided a lot early. He was aggressive in attacking the rim and picked up a quick seven points.

After going 1/10 from deep in the first, the Pistons found their stroke going 5/11 from three in the second quarter. Charlotte cleaned up some things inside which led to some open shots on the perimeter. Back-to-back threes from Terry Rozier gave the Hornets a brief lead at around the six-minute mark, but it was Detroit who had the edge at half, 58-54.

Both teams shot the ball above 45% in the third quarter and traded the lead back and forth throughout. Terry Rozier continued to carry the offense for Charlotte picking up 12 points in the third. Miles Bridges had a couple of strong takes to the rim and threw down an alley-oop on a three quarters-court pass from LaMelo Ball.

NEVER TAKE YOUR EYES OFF OF THIS DUO! @MELOD1P ↗️ @MilesBridges #AllFly | @hornets pic.twitter.com/oY4eNcIbxW
— Bally Sports: Hornets (@HornetsOnBally) February 28, 2022

In the first five minutes of the fourth, we had quite a back and forth between Kelly Oubre Jr. and Kelly Olynyk. Olynyk got hot all of a sudden drilling three threes while Oubre hit a pair from deep himself. After Olynyk hit his third to cut the Hornets lead to 99-96, Charlotte head coach James Borrego signaled for a timeout.

A few minutes later, rookie guard Cade Cunningham gave the Pistons the lead with a contested shot in the lane. Once again, Rozier came through and hit a corner three getting the lead right back, 112-110. Bey scored the next five points for Detroit with a putback tip-in and a three to give Detroit a three-point lead. After Miles Bridges hit both free throws, Cade Cunningham had a chance to get it back to three at the line but only managed to hit 1/2. P.J. Washington pulled down an offensive rebound off the miss from Miles Bridges and put it back in to tie the game with 4.1 seconds left. LaMelo Ball stole the inbound pass and hoisted up a quick shot but couldn't get it to fall, sending the game to overtime.

The Hornets gained control in overtime early earning a five-point lead thanks to some tremendous awareness and ball movement. Jerami Grant carried the charge for the Pistons and pulled them to within a point. P.J. Washington missed a point-blank dunk with 24 seconds left giving Detroit a chance to take the lead with just a two. Kelly Olynyk hit a game-winner from mid-range right in front of the bench as the clock expired.

The Hornets will be back in action Monday night when they hit the road to take on the Milwaukee Bucks. Charlotte holds a 2-1 season series lead over the Bucks.

BOX SCORE

DET: 31-27-24-34-11-127

CHA: 28-26-30-32-10-126

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