, which snapped a five-game losing streak. The Hornets haven't lost to the Pistons since the 2017-18 season.Blake Griffin scored 26 points for Detroit.Charlotte has only had three longer winning streaks against an opponent. The Hornets won 13 in a row over Orlando from 2016-18, 11 straight over the Pistons from 1993-95 and nine consecutive over the Chicago Bulls from 1999-01.''We just shared the ball, played for each other and we care about each other,'' said Biyombo, who was making his second start of the season. ''I think that's the most important thing because at the end of the day we are all we got. The guys embraced the challenge from the coach yesterday as we came in.'' Charlotte coach James Borrego said that challenge was improve on the defensive end.''Well, the last 24 hours, 48 hours, we talked about our defense,'' said Borrego, whose team entered the game 21st in the NBA in scoring defense at 113.9 points per game. ''I thought we got off to a good start defensively. We really did.''Tonight was about our defense. That's what got it done.'' The Hornets withstood a final Detroit possession that didn't end with a shot attempt despite three inbounds attempts in the final 12.3 seconds.After the final one with 7.9 seconds to play, Derrick Rose drove into the lane before passing to Luke Kennard on the left baseline. But Kennard couldn't get a shot off before the buzzer.''I got it at the top,'' said the veteran Rose, who is playing his first season with Detroit. ''It was the spacing that was messed up. You live and you learn. First year with the team so you figure it out.'' Pistons coach Dwane Casey knew it was a missed opportunity.''Would've, could've, should've,'' said Casey, whose team lost 109-106 at Charlotte in the teams' first meeting on Nov. 15 on Malik Monk's 3-pointer at the buzzer. ''It always looks like it comes down the last play and the execution of it. Just scoring a little quicker and that comes from being together and understanding what we are doing. I can't fault anybody on that last play but just go a little quicker. We got what we wanted and were about to get what we wanted but just (go) a little sooner.'' Charlotte scored the game's first six points and led 25-14 with 5:11 left in the first quarter before the Pistons closed out the quarter strong to take a 32-31 lead.Detroit maintained a 60-55 halftime lead before Charlotte retook the lead for good at 82-80 late in the third quarter.A pair of 3-pointers by Griffin in the final 4:13 cut the Hornets' lead to 95-94 with 4:13 to play and then 102-101 with 41 seconds left.TIP-INS:Pistons: Guard/forward Tony Snell played in his first game since Nov. 15 after missing four games with a left hip strain. Snell, who entered averaging 9.2 points, came off the bench and went scoreless in 19 minutes. He missed both field goal attempts, including one 3-pointer.Hornets: Center Cody Zeller didn't play after a left hip injury in Monday's 117-100 loss at Miami. It was the second game this season that Zeller has missed; he missed the Oct. 25 loss to Minnesota due to personal reasons. Since Zeller's rookie year of 2013-14 when he played in all 82 games, he has missed 20, nine, 20, 49 and 33 games, respectively, in the previous five seasons.UP NEXTBulls: Host Charlotte on Friday.Hornets: Visit Detroit on Friday.---More NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/-Sports)
Nov 26, 2019The problems for the Charlotte Hornets tend to start at the defensive end. They might want to take a close look at their next opponent when it comes to setting a defensive tone.The Detroit Pistons will visit the Hornets on Wednesday in a matchup of teams that have yet to find their footing this season.The Pistons, to their credit, are coming off Monday night's 103-88 home victory against the Orlando Magic in which Detroit limited Orlando to 33 second-half points."Our defense is taking steps in the right direction," Pistons coach Dwane Casey told reporters after the game.Charlotte is on a five-game losing streak, and this is the only home game during a four-game stretch for the Hornets. The Pistons will arrive wanting to maintain the defensive edge they exhibited in the second half against the Magic."What we did was executed our game plan defensively from start to finish," Pistons forward Blake Griffin said. "... I thought we did a really good job of helping each other out and locking in and executing." Griffin said improved communication is the key to making the defense work."When we're on one of our better stretches defensively, the communication is high," Griffin said.The Pistons have actually held each of their past three opponents to under their season scoring average.The Hornets tend to be going in the opposite direction defensively.During Charlotte's five-game slide, only two of the outcomes had final margins in single digits."We've won some close ones," coach James Borrego said. "We lost some close ones." Borrego said the defense is the root of the team's problems, and some of it comes from general unawareness and not being tough enough."Our defense has to be better, it has to improve," Borrego said. "Right now, we're physically soft. We lack intensity on that end of the court." Opponents seem to torch the Hornets in clutch moments."We have to stop the threes," Hornets forward Nic Batum said, describing part of the problem on the defensive end.The Hornets have received regular strong offensive contributions from guard Terry Rozier the past couple of weeks. He even led the team in rebounding with nine in Monday night's loss at Miami.But despite what's happening on offense, the Hornets don't seem stable enough to withstand rallies from opposing teams."Teams make runs and we tend to hang our head," Borrego said. "We just have to get better. That comes with time and accountability." The Pistons have issues as well, as indicated by their current eight-game road losing streak. Their lone road victory came in the season opener.The road woes included the failure to close out a Nov. 15 game at Charlotte. The Hornets rallied for a 109-106 victory on Malik Monk's buzzer-beating 3-point basket from about 26 feet out.The Pistons have scored only 89 and 90 points in their last two road games.Detroit received a team-high 20 points from guard Luke Kennard against Orlando, marking the first time in five game he led the Pistons in scoring.The Pistons could use Kennard production especially as they monitor guard Derrick Rose's workload. If Rose plays Wednesday night, it will mark games in four of six days as he comes off an injury.--Field Level Media
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