Postgame Coverage: Game Gallery | Fashion Gallery | Coach Borrego | PJ Washington | Kobi Simmons
The Charlotte Hornets narrowly pulled off a dramatic fourth-quarter comeback as they closed out their preseason schedule with a hard-fought 116-110 home loss to the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday, Oct. 16 at Spectrum Center.
Malik Monk put together his strongest outing of the preseason, piling up 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting, three rebounds, seven assists and zero turnovers in 23 minutes off the bench. The third-year guard has had just two regular season games in his career with more than six assists.
“[That was] a very mature performance by Malik Monk,” said Head Coach James Borrego after the game. “He’s grown. He looks to me like he’s figuring this thing out. He’s playing with his teammates, he’s making the right play. He was fantastic tonight. The way he moved the ball, the way he looked for his teammates, put pressure on the rim. He made very good decisions. That’s what we’re looking for.”
Charlotte trailed by one heading into the fourth, but a 24-9 Detroit run to open the frame forced the hosts into a 16-point hole with about three minutes remaining. The Hornets responded with a valiant 13-0 stretch, but ran out of time in the closing moments as the Pistons closed out their third exhibition victory.
Devonte’ Graham totaled 13 points, four assists and two steals filling in for Terry Rozier (left knee tendonitis) as the starting point guard. PJ Washington, Cody Zeller, Caleb Martin and Kobi Simmons all had 12 points for the Hornets, who were also missing Nicolas Batum (right Achilles soreness), Marvin Williams (illness) and Cody Martin (sprained right ankle).
Langston Galloway managed a team-high 18 points for the Pistons, while Andre Drummond (17 points and game-high 15 rebounds) and Tim Frazier (15 points and game-high 12 assists) each notched double-doubles. Markieff Morris (17 points) and Christian Wood (12) rounded out Detroit’s double-figure scorers.
Charlotte shot an impressive 51.2% from the field (41-of-80), although just 29.0% from three-point range (9-of-31). Detroit tallied 15 offensive rebounds leading to 18 second-chance points, but the Hornets counteracted with a 12-0 advantage in fast-breaking scoring (6-of-12 shooting).
“We shot the ball decently tonight, Borrego added. “Unfortunately, they just made too many more threes than us tonight (14). I thought we just played with a more urgent spirit there in the fourth quarter. It was exciting to see that young group get out there and play and fight and get us back in that game.”