Charlotte Hornets vs Detroit Pistons: Game 8 recap and analysis

The Charlotte Hornets unraveled in the second half as they were blown out by the Detroit Pistons, 124-91.

The Summary

Coby White announced his return by splashing a deep three within the first couple minutes of the game. Cade Cunningham carried the Pistons offensively while the Hornets relied on 3-pointers to cancel out all the shots they were missing inside the arc. The first quarter featured a lot of whistles and players on the floor, which is normal for a Pistons game. The Hornets inched ahead early in the second quarter, but the Pistons responded with a prolonged spell of not missing shots to overtake the home team. A barrage of Pistons threes helped them to an 11 point lead at the break.

The teams went punch for punch throughout the third quarter. Sion James made a couple of threes. Naz Reid did the same and had a driving dunk. The Hornets pulled closer, but Cade Cunningham had a flurry of buckets and assists to restore the Pistons lead in what felt like just a few seconds. While they were getting Cunninghammed on one end of the floor, the Hornets’ offense completely dried up on the other. They looked hurried, almost like they were feeling pressure from the run Cunningham had ignited. By the end of the quarter, the Hornets trailed by 23. The Hornets did not score for the final 4:58 of the third while the Pistons went on a 19-0 run.

Tidjane Salaün made a driving layup early in the fourth. The officials let like 15 seconds run off the clock while the Pistons didn’t pick up the ball while Ausar Thompson laid on the floor. They eventually stopped the game, went to the monitor, then assessed Salaün an offensive foul. A couple minutes later, John Collins shoved Salaün to the floor. It was all emblematic of the death spiral the game was in. The fourth quarter quickly turned to garbage time, and that was that.

The Good

It was nice having Coby White back out there. He was rusty, and things obviously didn’t go well in the second half in general, but you could see what White’s presence does to the offense. He was able to get downhill and actually beat his defender off the dribble, which is something the Hornets haven’t gotten a lot of. The team actually won the minutes he was on the floor last night. They were +1 with White on the floor and -30 with Dennis Schroder. I expect White’s presence to become more and more impactful each game.

Sion James may have found the stroke. He came into the game 5-of-32 from three, but he managed to make three of his four attempts from deep against the Pistons. He’s probably about to lose the starting job with Kon Knueppel seemingly close to a return, but if he can join the 3-point arsenal on the bench, it’ll be huge for the Hornets as a whole.

All 13 healthy Hornets scored a point. Yay for inclusivity.

The Bad

25 turnovers is an absurd amount of turnovers. That number is a little inflated because the reserves managed to turn the ball over 10 times in the fourth quarter alone, but 15 through three is still bad. Part of the implosion the third quarter was how often the Hornets let Cade Cunningham get out in transition, and the turnovers contributed to that. They simply aren’t strong enough with the ball when they play this Pistons team.

On that note, he only got credited with one turnover, but Naz Reid has gotta figure out these cross court passes from the post. It seems like a couple times a game he tries to rifle a ball to the opposite corner and ends up throwing it straight to a defender. The one he had last night ended up finding a teammate anyway, but it’s not a good process.

Dennis Schroder is supposed to be in his element coming off the bench, but in this game he had five turnovers against just one assist and two made baskets in 23 minutes of court time. That’s not ideal.