For the Pistons, tonight was a must win game. With Blake and D-Rose back in the lineup against a not so great Charlotte team, no disrespect to them, tonight’s game was a great opportunity to get this team back on track. Instead it turned into a nightmare for most fans.
The night started out hopeful, as the Pistons started the game hot from the field and from three. They had a 14 point lead heading into halftime, Langston had 15 on 5/7 shooting (3/5 from three), and D-Rose had 11. Everything sadly went downhill from there.
Pitiful interior defense and turnovers is what erased their 14 point lead by the end of the third. Frustrations were noticeably growing midway through the fourth when the Pistons faced their largest deficit, 8 points, with 6:26 left in the game. Credit to the Pistons though as they fought back with countless threes from Langston Galloway, who finished the game with his career high 32 points (7/11 from three), and another added from Luke Kennard that would earn them the lead with 50 seconds left. Marvin Williams would then get a wide open corner look with 22.5 seconds remaining to tie the game after Drummond left him to double a guard in the paint.
The Pistons were set up to win this game. No shot clock, no rush was needed. However D-Rose, after playing well for the majority of the game, would drive into the lane and get into the air with nowhere to go, eventually forcing himself to throw the ball out of bounds. This would earn the Pistons their 21st turnover of the game and the Hornets the ball back with just one second on the clock. Malik Monk delivers for the Hornets exactly what every Pistons fan feared, an incredibly contested three from the top of the key as time expires. Hornets win 109-106.
Blake didn’t play a good game, Andre seemed a bit disengaged most of the night, and the Pistons missed a great opportunity to get their season back on track. “Special K” himself, a.k.a Pistons commentator Greg Kelser, had the quote of the night: “I’m drained.” Probably how just about every Pistons fan is feeling after that performance.
The team’s next opportunity comes next Wednesday, 11/20, against the Bulls.
Piston Territory 