Detroit Pistons: 3 takeaways from loss to the Hornets

Saddiq Bey and the Detroit Pistons took another loss to the Charlotte Hornets in LaMelo Ball’s return from injury.

Ball was the focus for most of the game, but it was Bey who had the better game despite not getting nearly as much attention.

Rookies Isaiah Stewart and Killian Hayes were also in the starting lineup with Detroit sitting nearly all of their veterans, making 24-year-old Josh Jackson the oldest guy in the rotation.

The Pistons got into a hole early after an 18-point first quarter and were never quite able to climb out of it.

With the Orlando Magic winning last night, the Pistons are now again alone with the second-worst record in the NBA with eight games left to play.

They need to stay in the bottom three to get maximum odds at a top-four pick and have two upcoming games that could ultimately decide their lottery odds.

Here are three takeaways from another youthful and competitive loss.

Detroit Pistons: Turnovers and free throws

Two areas the Detroit Pistons will have to improve if they want to do “something big” next season are turnovers and free throws.

The Pistons turn the ball over way too much and are now 24th in the league in this category. Though they only turned it over 13 times against the Hornets, it led to 22 points, which pretty much sealed the game for high-flying Charlotte.

The Pistons also missed a bunch of free throws again, which is becoming all too common. They went just 11-of-17 from the free-throw line for 64.7 percent and are now just 20th in the NBA in team free-throw percentage.

These are often areas of struggle for young teams and the Detroit Pistons will have to improve if they want to continue to progress as a franchise over the next few seasons.