Detroit Pistons dominate Charlotte Hornets for 2nd road win
By David Topham
The Detroit Pistons (9-10) took it to the Charlotte Hornets (10-8) tonight, winning 112-89, even though Andre Drummond was ejected in the second quarter.
The Detroit Pistons scored a season-high point total in a game where Andre Drummond was ejected in the second quarter, beating the Charlotte Hornets 112-89. The Pistons were able to move to 2-8 on the road behind strong games from Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Tobias Harris and 12-28 three-point shooting. That’s the most threes the Pistons have made in a game this season.
Drummond was sent packing with 4:09 left in the second quarter for elbowing Roy Hibbert in the head on a rebound attempt. At the time, the game was tied 46-46. The Pistons proceeded to close it out on a 66-43 run in his absence.
Although, it may not have mattered whether or not Drummond was gone. The Hornets could have simply run out of juice in the second half after playing in Memphis yesterday. Also, this was Charlotte’s eighth game in 12 nights and fourth game in five nights, while the Pistons had two full days off heading into tonight.
Either way, the Pistons will take the lopsided road victory as they head to Boston overnight for a game with the Celtics tomorrow. Now to the grades.
B+. Smith started out poorly, picking up two fouls early on, but finished strong. With the Hornets in the midst of a 12-0 in the second quarter, Smith stepped up and scored seven straight Piston points to put Detroit back in control. He finished with 13 points, 3 assists, 1 steal (and a nice slam dunk off of it) and zero turnovers while trying his best to slow down <strong><a rel=. PG. Detroit Pistons. ISH SMITH
Impressive, Ish! #PistonsNow pic.twitter.com/6Ci4UCrOIT
— Detroit Pistons (@DetroitPistons) November 30, 2016
A. KCP put together one of his best lines of his career, finishing with 18 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists, and 4 threes made. Caldwell-Pope was also +26 for the game. He only missed out on an “A+” because he disappeared in the second quarter.. SG. Detroit Pistons. KENTAVIOUS CALDWELL-POPE
C+. Morris went for 18 points on 18 shots, hitting his normal array of elbow jumpers and isolation fall-aways. Outside of the second quarter, where he came up with 8 big points, Morris didn’t make much of an impact on this game.. SF. Detroit Pistons. MARCUS MORRIS
A+. Harris played perhaps his best game as a Piston. He made 9-12 shots en route to 24 points. He hit three triples and also repeatedly drove past the slower <strong><a rel=. PF. Detroit Pistons. TOBIAS HARRIS
F. Drummond was ejected with 4:09 left in the second quarter, when the game was tied, for sending an elbow at Roy Hibbert’s head. The Pistons proceeded to dominate the Hornets, outscoring them 66-43 in his absence.. C. Detroit Pistons. ANDRE DRUMMOND
PF. Detroit Pistons. JON LEUER. B+. Leuer started the second half for Drummond, giving us a look at an intriguing Morris-Harris-Leuer frontcourt. Leuer scored 6 first-quarter points and 6 second-half points while also providing his usual tenacity and effort level on defense and the glass.
C+. Baynes played a solid yet unspectacular game while getting some extended run in Drummond’s absence. He made one of the highlights of the night when he rolled hard off a screen to finish a great Udrih feed with a ferocious jam. Baynes finished with 8 and 8.. C. Detroit Pistons. ARON BAYNES
After Udrih checked in for Smith and his two fouls, Walker proceeded to score 7 quick points and an 11-point Piston lead shrunk to 2. However, he kept his composure and started putting the offense in good spots, finishing the first half with 5 points and 6 assists. He added another bucket and assist in limited run in the fourth quarter.. PG. Detroit Pistons. BENO UDRIH. B-
STANLEY JOHNSON. F. The inexplicable funk continues. Johnson was so god awful in the first half that he lost his spot in the rotation to <a rel=. SF. Detroit Pistons
It appeared that Hilliard was the odd man out of the rotation tonight, but then <a rel=. SG. Detroit Pistons. DARRUN HILLIARD. A-
SVG deployed an aggressive game plan to combat Kemba Walker. The scheme was to hard hedge all screens for him, forcing Walker to make the smart play and give up the ball. This led the Hornets to settle for many long twos throughout the night, which Detroit will live with any day. I also liked the move of going with Leuer to start for Drummond in the second half. However, with a game in Boston tomorrow night, it took SVG much too long to empty the bench in the 4th in a game that was already decided.. Head Coach. Detroit Pistons. STAN VAN GUNDY. A-