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    • Cade Cunningham leaves before the Detroit Pistons fall to the Charlotte Hornets
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    Cade Cunningham leaves before the Detroit Pistons fall to the Charlotte Hornets

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    CHARLOTTE — For the second time this month, a game between the Detroit Pistons and Charlotte Hornets came down to the wire. The second game had the same outcome for the Pistons.

    The Pistons lost in overtime to the Hornets, 123-121, to fall to 7-10 overall. This was after they lost by buzzer-beater to the Hornets on November 6, failing to box out and allowing Brandon Miller to win the game with a tip-in.

    Cade Cunningham, who left the game late in the fourth quarter after a bad fall, led the Pistons with 27 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds. However, he was responsible for five of the Pistons’ nineteen turnovers, of which the Hornets scored 25 points. Tobias Harris added 26 points on 10-for-15 shooting and seven rebounds, scoring 14 points in the fourth and overtime.

    Miller, who led all scorers with 38 points and eight made three-pointers, capped off another win for the Hornets with eight points and a pair of deep three-pointers in overtime, extending Charlotte’s lead to six with just over 30 seconds left , a lead the Pistons couldn’t close.

    The Pistons trailed by 19 midway through the third period and struggled with turnovers and three-point shooting as the Hornets were hot from downtown. Charlotte improved to 16-for-31 from deep after LaMelo Ball (35 points, nine assists, six rebounds) knocked down a stepback Heatcheck 3 at 6:02 of the third.

    However, the battle continued after the Pistons opened the fourth with an 18-10 run to cut the score to six, 103-97, after controlling their turnovers and slowing the Hornets from 3. They also got a big lift when, with 3:26 left in the game, JB Bickerstaff won a challenge call that would have given Jaden Ivey his fifth foul. Instead, Ball picked up his fifth foul as the Pistons trailed by just five, 107-102.

    A 3-pointer from Harris, followed by a transition layup from Ivey, tied the game at 107 with about a minute 30 remaining. Cunningham made two free throws with 48.8 seconds left to give the Pistons the lead, but Ball answered at the other end with a layup. With 1.2 seconds left, Ball couldn’t hit the game winner.

    Ball picked up his sixth foul a second into overtime, but the Pistons also lost Cunningham with a hip injury late in the game. They were without their top player as the Hornets escaped with a win. Jaden Ivey (11 points, six assists) hit a 3 with 29 seconds left to make it three, and the Hornets won the free-throw battle down the stretch.

    Cunningham leaves

    Cunningham was visibly in pain after knocking down his game-tying free throws, and the Pistons announced at the start of overtime that he would miss the rest of the game with a left hip injury.

    The exact nature and severity of the injury was not yet known at the end of the match.

    Pistons lose the sales battle early

    The Hornets started hot from deep, knocking down 12 of their 25 attempts (48%) in the first half. That was after missing their last five attempts of the second quarter, which the Pistons took advantage of with a 7-0 run from trailing by four, 63-59, at halftime.

    Charlotte improved to 12-for-20 (60%) from 3 with less than four minutes left in the second period after Caleb Martin knocked one down to extend a 12-2 Hornets run. All 12 points were transition 3-pointers, with the Pistons being punished each time they failed to get onto the court in time to compete.

    The barrage continued in the third, which the Hornets opened with a 23-8 run — while knocking down three of their first five three-point attempts — to open their largest lead of the night over the Pistons at midway through the game, 86- 67. period.

    This was after the Chicago Bulls had a strong night from 3 down in Detroit on Monday, making 23 of 46 on the way to handing the Pistons a home loss. After two days’ rest they had one of their more lethargic performances of the season defending the line.

    Combined with the three-point difference, the Pistons were also minus-10 in turnover margin at the end of the third, with 16 to Charlotte’s six. At one point, the Pistons turned the ball over on three consecutive possessions in the final two minutes, having cut the deficit to single digits, and the Hornets capitalized with a 6-0 run to extend their lead to 14.93 -79, in second place. end of the quarter.

    Harris takes over

    The Pistons’ performance in the final period was a complete turnaround from the first three. They beat the Hornets from 3, made 4 of 9 while holding 1 of 5, and forced seven turnovers while only committing two themselves.

    But Harris was key, making all four of his shots (including three 3-pointers) to cut the Hornets’ lead as the Pistons rallied. The veteran forward stayed on the sidelines in overtime and nailed a 3 for the first bucket of the period, giving the Pistons the lead, 112-109, before Miller’s game-ending goal.

    Contact Omari Sankofa II at [email protected]. Follow him on X @omarisankofa.

    (MUST WATCH: Make ‘The Pistons Pulse’ your favorite Detroit Pistons podcast, available wherever you listen to podcasts (Apple, Spotify) or watch live/on demand on YouTube. )

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