Postgame Interviews: Stephen Silas | Johnny O'Bryant | Dwayne Bacon
Result: An undermanned Charlotte Hornets squad couldn’t hang with the Detroit Pistons down the stretch in its fourth game of the 2017 Orlando Pro Summer League, falling, 87-82, on Wednesday, July 5 in Orlando, FL. Playing without leading-scorer Treveon Graham (left hamstring soreness), the Hornets still got a huge performance from Johnny O’Bryant, who stepped up with a team-high 26 points in the loss. The Hornets picked up one point in the 2017 Orlando Pro Summer League standings, temporarily slotting them into fifth place.
Turning Point: Holding a three-point lead at the end of the third quarter, Detroit opened up the final 10 minutes of play with a 15-3 run to go up, 78-63, midway through the frame. Charlotte rallied to cut the deficit down to just two points with 33.3 seconds left on the clock, but Detroit’s Michael Gbinije hit a pair of free throws on the next possession to effectively seal the win for the Pistons.
Hornets Player of the Game: Johnny O’Bryant finished with a team-high 26 points on 10-of-18 shooting and four rebounds in the loss. O’Bryant’s output is the highest-scoring game by any Charlotte player through its first four games of the 2017 Orlando Pro Summer League.
Pistons Player of the Game: Henry Ellenson notched a game-high 29 points on 12-of-20 shooting (4-of-8 from three-point range) and six rebounds in the victory. The second-year forward from Marquette University entered the day tied for fourth in the tournament in scoring at 17.7 points per game.
Game Notes: Anthony Gill tallied 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting and four rebounds… Dwayne Bacon added 14 points and four rebounds… Kris Joseph also scored in double figures with 11 points (3-of-3 from three-point range), four rebounds and a game-high three steals… Briante Weber chipped in six points, six rebounds, a game-high seven assists and two steals… Mangok Mathiang pulled down a game-high-tying seven rebounds… Gabe York (right hip flexor strain) also did not play for Charlotte… Both teams finished with 14 turnovers… Detroit won the battle on the boards, 36-31… The Hornets connected on 8-of-18 attempts from three-point range (44.4 percent), while the Pistons hit 9-of-23 shots from downtown (39.1 percent).
Quote of the Day: “I knew when our main leading-scorer, Treveon Graham, was out, I knew I was going to have to be aggressive, help my team compete and try and get a win. That’s really the main reason [for my performance].” – Hornets forward Johnny O'Bryant.
Next Up: The Hornets wrap up Summer League play against either the Orlando Magic or New York Knicks at TBD on Thursday, July 6 in Orlando, FL. The game can be seen on NBATV and also followed along on the ESPN app.