Postgame Coverage: Game Gallery | Graham Highlights | Coach Borrego | Miles Bridges | Jalen McDaniels
One game removed from their worst start of the season, the Charlotte Hornets turned the tables against the Detroit Pistons and broke away late for an 87-76 road win on Monday, Feb. 10 at Little Caesar’s Arena
Devonte’ Graham double-doubled for a career-high-tying third consecutive game, finishing with 14 points, seven rebounds, a game-high 11 assists, two steals and just one turnover in the victory, which snapped a five-game skid. Miles Bridges also added a game-high 18 points and seven rebounds, scoring at least 15 points for the seventh straight outing.
Charlotte led 21-11 after the opening 12 minutes, marking just the third time the franchise has ever allowed 11 or fewer points in the first quarter of a road game. After Detroit trimmed a 15-point first-half deficit down to just two with 1:59 remaining in the third, Charlotte ripped off a 25-9 run to take an 84-66 advantage by the 2:48 mark of the fourth.
“We just battled, battled on the glass. Defensively, I felt like we were locked in, communicating and we made shots late,” said Graham afterwards. “When you’re not making shots, you have to find a way to impact the game. That’s what I’m trying to do. Lifting my guys, making sure I’m making the right reads, the right passes and still being aggressive offensively.”
“We just had a pride about our defense tonight,” added Coach Borrego. “Physicality, energy, we had a real sharp shootaround this morning. We talked about defense heavily last night in our film session and again this morning. Our guys came and executed. Just a great pride on that end of the floor. Good length out there, good communication and obviously, good defense.”
Malik Monk continued to roll off the bench, putting up 17 points on 5-of-10 shooting, three rebounds and three steals. Terry Rozier was in double figures as well with 11 points and seven rebounds and rookie Jalen McDaniels chipped in a career-high eight points (2-of-3 from three) and three rebounds.
Thon Maker (12 points and 12 rebounds) and Bruce Brown (10 points and 12 rebounds) both double-doubled for Detroit in the loss. Christian Wood and Markieff Morris each added another 10 points, while Reggie Jackson finished with just eight points on 2-of-11 shooting (had scored at least 20 points in each of his last three games).
Charlotte shot just 37.5% from the field, although the Pistons went 35.4%, which included a 7-of-35 clip from three-point range (20.0%; Detroit entered the game ranked sixth in the NBA in three-point percentage). The hosts also committed 21 turnovers leading to 24 points for the Hornets, although won the rebounding battle, 52-45 (19-13 edge in offensive boards).
“I didn’t see us hanging our heads as much tonight,” Borrego said. “We kept digging in, kept getting stops, running. I thought the spirit stayed with us all night. Even though shots weren’t falling, we didn’t hang our heads. We kept playing.”
The pre-All-Star Break schedule closes out for the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday, Feb. 12, when they face the Minnesota Timberwolves starting at 8 PM EST at Target Center. Watch the game on Fox Sports Southeast or listen in on WFNZ 610 AM/102.5 FM or the Hornets app.