Big fourth-quarter comeback leads Hornets past Pistons

Charlotte Hornets guard Jeremy Lamb hit a 22-foot jump shot with three-tenths of a second left for what became a wild 108-107 home victory over the Detroit Pistons

After Lamb’s shot, it was determined an extra Hornets player was on the court, resulting in a technical foul. Langston Galloway made the free throw to cut Charlotte’s lead to one.

Hornets forward Nic Batum picked off a long in-bounds pass by Pistons forward Blake Griffin (26 points) on the last play of the game to secure the victory.

Hornets star Kemba Walker finished with 31 points, 12 in the fourth quarter when the Hornets (14-13) recovered from an 11-point deficit.

Walker missed the first of two free throws, off a shooting foul by Pistons center Andre Drummond, with 30.6 seconds left. Walker made the second to give the Hornets a one-point lead.

That came after Drummond completed a 3-point play, off a foul by Walker, that represented the Pistons’ first points in over five minutes.

Marvin Williams fouled out on the ensuing Pistons possession, attempting to cut off Detroit’s Blake Griffin in the lane. Griffin stepped to the foul line with 23.6 seconds left. He, too, missed his first free throw. He also missed the second, and Hornets forward Nic Batum grabbed the rebound.

Lamb received the entry pass and was immediately fouled by Bruce Brown. He made one of two. Then, the Pistons’ Langston Galloway made two free throws off a foul by Tony Parker.

Three who mattered

Griffin: A huge change from the first Hornets-Pistons game, when he shot 4-of-16 from the field and was ejected in the fourth quarter over a flagrant foul.

Tony Parker: Has had two strong games now against the Pistons

Cody Zeller: Tough in the matchup with Pistons’ massive size.

Observations

▪ Hornets forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist was a late inactive due to what the team called a personal matter.

▪ Hornets Dwayne Bacon and Devonte Graham played a G-League game Wednesday afternoon in Greensboro, then were both active against the Pistons. Coach James Borrego said pre-game Bacon would be inactive before learning Kidd-Gilchrist was unavailable.

▪ It’s not all that uncommon for young players to be on a G-League roster and an NBA roster for games the same day. There have been more than a dozen instances of this in the past. That, in part, is why the trend has been for NBA teams to have their G-League affiliates geographically close.

▪ After playing little of late, Hornets reserve center Willy Hernangomez made the most of seven first-half minutes Wednesday: He hit five of six shots for 11 points.

▪ Zeller had a great start to this game, with eight points and four rebounds in the first quarter, but he also committed two early fouls.

Worth mentioning

▪ Longtime Hornets broadcaster Stephanie Ready told the Observer she is moving on to another broadcasting opportunity after games this week. Ready, who has been part of the television crew since the NBA returned in 2004, couldn’t yet discuss details of her new job.

▪ This was the start of five consecutive home games at Spectrum Center.

They said it

“His speed is the best I’ve ever seen. It reminds you a little bit of Allen Iverson, except with a lethal 3-point shot.” – Pistons coach Dwane Casey pre-game on what makes Walker so hard to guard.

“It’s not going to be one guy going to get 20 boards a game; we don’t have that type of team.” – Borrego on the rebounding challenge, particularly against a big, physical team like the Pistons.

“That computer, if I ever see it I’m going to throw it away” – Casey on the Hornets’ rough early schedule.

Report card

C OFFENSE: Tough to operate efficiently when starting guards Walker and Lamb aren’t making shots the first three quarters.

B DEFENSE: This time the Pistons made the 3-pointers left open with all the defensive attention on Griffin.. But the fourth quarter comeback was primarily defense.

B COACHING: This long home-stand has a lot of consequence, potentially to the season result.

This story was originally published December 12, 2018 at 9:48 PM with the headline "Big fourth-quarter comeback leads Hornets past Pistons."