The Morning After: Gut-Punched

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - On paper, it looked like a game the Charlotte Hornets should have won. But there's a reason the games aren't decided on that paper that is oftentimes misleading.

The Detroit Pistons followed up their strong outing the season opener against Miami by punching Charlotte in the mouth right out of the shoot and did it time and time again throughout the course of the game. It was a physical battle that the Hornets had no answers for.

Isaiah Stewart and Jalen Duren played bully ball in the paint, shoving around the Hornets bigs like they were actual Hornets. It was too easy. When Charlotte tried to match that physicality, it often led to a blow of the whistle from the officiating crew. At least that's how it felt to LaMelo Ball.

“Pretty much they came and hit first, and then it seemed like when we tried to get physical back, we were getting called," Ball said. "It pretty much didn’t go our way. ...We were trying. Every time you get physical it’s a call and their way it’s no call, so that’s a tough one. ...It’ll throw you off when you see somebody pushing you in the back over there and it’s no call, then you come down here and you do the same thing and it’s a foul. It’s tough to play like that, but you take it and learn from it and come to the next game and be ready.”

The physicality of the Pistons really wore out the Hornets as the game went on. It impacted their energy level and effectiveness on the offensive end where they turned the ball over 18 times.

“I think they’re a physical team. You’ve got to give them credit for that. They played hard, they played physical," Hornets wing Gordon Hayward stated. "I felt like we competed. I thought we played hard as well. The turnovers were another issue for us tonight. Halfcourt defense we were pretty solid, but it was too many rebounds for them. We’ve got to keep (Alec Burks) off the line – 11-for-12. It’s one we can learn from, for sure.”

Getting pushed around the way the Hornets did on Friday night just simply can't happen. That said, the Hornets will have a chance to right their wrongs on Monday night when the Brooklyn Nets come to town, concluding a three-game homestand.

What Steve Clifford Said Following the Loss to the Pistons

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