Cade Cunningham exits before Detroit Pistons fall to Charlotte Hornets

November 24, 2024 Vaseline blog 0

Cade Cunningham exits before Detroit Pistons fall to Charlotte Hornets

CHARLOTTE — For the second time this month, a game between the Detroit Pistons and Charlotte Hornets came down to the wire. The second game had the same result for the Pistons.

The Pistons lost to the Hornets in overtime, 123-121, and fell to 7-10 overall. This was after they lost to the Hornets on a buzzer-beater on Nov. 6, failing to box out and allowing Brandon Miller to win the game with a tip-in.

Cade Cunningham, who exited the game at the end of the fourth quarter after a bad fall, led the Pistons with 27 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds. He was responsible for five of the Pistons’ 19 turnovers, though, off of which the Hornets scored 25 points. Tobias Harris added 26 points on 10-for-15 shooting and seven rebounds, and scored 14 points in the fourth and overtime.

Miller, who led all scorers with 38 points and eight made 3-pointers, closed out another Hornets win with eight points and a pair of deep 3-pointers in overtime to extend Charlotte’s lead to six with just over 30 seconds remaining, a gap the Pistons were unable to close.

The Pistons trailed by 19 midway through the third period and struggled with turnovers and 3-point shooting, as the Hornets were hot from downtown. Charlotte improved to 16-for-31 from deep after LaMelo Ball (35 points, nine assists, six rebounds) knocked down a stepback heat check 3 at the 6:02 mark of the third.

The battle continued, though, after the Pistons opened the fourth with an 18-10 run to cut it to six, 103-97, after getting their turnovers under control and slowing the Hornets from 3. They also got a big lift when, with 3:26 left in the game, JB Bickerstaff won a challenge call that would’ve handed Jaden Ivey his fifth foul. Instead, Ball picked up his fifth foul with the Pistons only down five, 107-102.

A 3-pointer from Harris, followed by a transition layup by Ivey, tied the game at 107 with roughly a minute 30 remaining. Cunningham made two free throws with 48.8 seconds left to give the Pistons the lead, but Ball answered on the other end with a layup. With 1.2 seconds remaining, Ball wasn’t able to hit the game-winner.

Ball picked up his sixth foul a second into overtime, but the Pistons also lost Cunningham at the end of the game with a hip injury. They were without their top player as the Hornets escaped with a win. Jaden Ivey (11 points, six assists) hit a 3 with 29 seconds left to cut it to three, and the Hornets won the free throw battle down the stretch.

Cunningham exits

Cunningham was visibly in pain after knocking down his game-tying free throws, and the Pistons announced at the beginning of overtime that he would miss the rest of the game with a left hip injury.

The exact nature and seriousness of the injury was not known at the end of the game.

Pistons lose turnover battle early

The Hornets started off hot from deep, knocking down 12 of their 25 attempts (48%) in the first half. That was after they missed their final five attempts of the second quarter, which the Pistons capitalized on with a 7-0 run to trail by four, 63-59, at halftime.

Charlotte improved to 12-for-20 (60%) from 3 with under four minutes left in the second period after Caleb Martin knocked one down to extend a 12-2 Hornets run. All 12 points were transition 3-pointers, punishing the Pistons every time they failed to get down the court in time to contest.

The barrage continued in the third, which the Hornets opened with a 23-8 run — while knocking down three of their first five 3-point attempts — to open their biggest lead of the night over the Pistons, 86-67, midway through the period.

This was after the Chicago Bulls had a strong night from 3 in Detroit on Monday, making 23 of 46 en route to handing the Pistons a home loss. Coming off two days of rest, they had one of their most lethargic performances of the season defending the line.

Coupled with the 3-point disparity, the Pistons were also minus-10 in the turnover margin by the end of the third, committing 16 against Charlotte’s six. At one point, the Pistons turned the ball over on three consecutive possessions in the final two minutes after whittling the deficit to single digits, and the Hornets capitalized with a 6-0 run to extend their lead to 14, 93-79, at the end of the quarter.

Harris takes over

The Pistons’ performance in the final period was a complete flip from the first three. They outshot the Hornets from 3, making 4-of-9 while holding them to 1-of-5, and forced seven turnovers while committing just two themselves.

But Harris was the key, making all four of his shots (including three 3-pointers) to whittle down the Hornets’ lead as the Pistons rallied. The veteran forward remained clutch in the extra period, knocking down a 3 for the first bucket of the period to give the Pistons the lead, 112-109, before Miller’s game-closing performance.

Contact Omari Sankofa II at [email protected]. Follow him on @omarisankofa.

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