Overview
- Detroit won 118-100 in Charlotte on Friday to improve to 59-22, which locked the Hornets into the play-in tournament.
- The game flipped early in the fourth quarter as the Pistons strung together a decisive run and held Charlotte to 5-for-18 shooting and 0-for-9 from three in the period.
- Jalen Duren led Detroit with 20 points and nine rebounds, Duncan Robinson added 19, and Cade Cunningham logged 14 points and seven assists in his second game back.
- Head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said the final two games would be used to get Cunningham and Isaiah Stewart minutes and to test lineups, and Detroit managed minutes with no starter topping 28.
- The rematch, the first since a February brawl, saw early double technicals on Brandon Miller and Robinson before Detroit’s defense smothered Charlotte’s high-volume three-point offense late.