Postgame Coverage: Game Gallery | Fashion Gallery | Monk Highlights | Coach Borrego | Inside the Locker Room After Monk's Game Winner | Marvin Williams
Game-tying and game-winning threes by Marvin Williams and Malik Monk, respectively, ended the Charlotte Hornets’ four-game slide as they knocked off the Detroit Pistons, 109-106, in exhilarating fashion on Friday, Nov. 15 at Spectrum Center.
Monk and Terry Rozier both finished with a team-high 19 points, leading six total Charlotte players in double figures. Devonte’ Graham was right behind the pair in the scoring column with 18 points and a game-high 10 assists for his fourth double-double of the campaign.
After trailing the entire game by as many as 14 points, the Hornets finally pulled out in front with a huge 24-7 run between the end of the third and start of the fourth quarters, giving the hosts a 96-88 lead. Detroit battled back in the closing minutes, eventually taking a three-point lead with a Langston Galloway corner three with 50 seconds left on the clock.
Charlotte responded on the other end with a second-chance, Marvin Williams three and then forced Derrick Rose to thrown an errant pass out of bounds with just one second remaining. Following the timeout, Cody Martin found Monk on the inbounds pass for a perfect 26-foot, catch-and-shoot three-pointer, sealing the team’s seventh straight victory over Detroit.
“I just wanted the shot. I practice those a lot with [Assistant] Coach Jay [Hernandez],” said Monk afterwards. “I was confident. It’s always good to get wins and play well, but it’s a team sport. I have to sacrifice anything to get the wins. It’s just me being a basketball player, growing up and taking responsibility to do whatever I can to help the team.”
Head Coach James Borrego added, “The way that [Malik’s] playing right now, that shot will only add to his confidence moving forward. The way he’s been playing with poise, his attacking of the rim, making plays for his teammates and his ability to shoot the ball, he’s playing at a very high level right now and I believe this shot will only push him even further.”
PJ Washington (11 points), Cody Zeller (10) and Bismack Biyombo (10) also scored in double figures for Charlotte. Cody Martin chipped in with seven points, six rebounds, five assists, three steals and a stellar +14 plus-minus rating in 26 minutes off the bench.
Langston Galloway led Detroit with a career-high 32 points (7-of-11 from three) off the bench with teammates Blake Griffin (19), Andre Drummond (16) and Derrick Rose (16) also tallying double-digit scoring performances. Drummond also pulled down 20 rebounds, good for his sixth 20-rebound game of the campaign.
Charlotte committed a season-low 11 turnovers leading to just 11 points for the Pistons. The Hornets also held the vistors to just 41 second-half points (allowed 65 in the first) and outscored Detroit in second-chance points (17-7) and in the paint (58-44).
“It was our defense that got us this win tonight and it started in the third quarter,” Borrego stated. “They made a lot of shots in the first half, even against some solid defense, but we turned it up in the third quarter. This game was won strictly on our defense, our running and the pace we played at in the second half. Obviously, we had to execute down the stretch and we had to make some shots, but what won this game tonight was our effort defensively, our physicality, our disruption and attention to the boards.”
A four-game, All-Eastern Conference road trip kicks off tomorrow night, Saturday, Nov. 16, for the Hornets as they head north to face the New York Knicks beginning at 7:30 EST PM. Catch the game on Fox Sports Southeast or listen on WFNZ 610 or the Hornets App.