The Charlotte Hornets finally figured out how to close a game, riding a season-high 19 points from Bismack Biyombo to a 102-101 victory against the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night in Charlotte, N.C.
The Hornets, who dropped three games by fewer than 10 points in a four-day span last week, had help on Detroit's botched final possession, hanging on to snap a five-game losing streak.
Detroit's Blake Griffin hit a 3-pointer with 42.3 seconds left to draw the Pistons within 102-101. After a defensive stop at the other end, the Pistons had a chance for a winning possession. But they had trouble getting the ball inbounds, and then the Hornets took a foul because they had one to give.
With about eight seconds left, the Pistons inbounded again, but Derrick Rose dribbled for too long before passing to Luke Kennard. The Pistons never got a shot off before the buzzer.
PJ Washington scored 17 points, Devonte' Graham tallied 16 points and Miles Bridges had 15 for the Hornets, who have defeated the Pistons twice this month in home games. Graham added a career-high 15 assists.
Nic Batum scored all 13 of his points off the bench in the first half for Charlotte, and teammate Terry Rozier ended up with 12 points.
Charlotte finished 7-for-30 on 3-point attempts.
For Detroit, Griffin posted 26 points, and Kennard had 16 points. Andre Drummond had 14 points and 21 rebounds, Rose ended with 13 points and Langston Galloway added 10 points.
The Hornets scored the final eight points of the third quarter to build an 86-80 lead. They led the rest of the way but never by more than eight before the Pistons rallied within one.
The Pistons led 60-55 at halftime, largely because of 53.5 percent shooting from the field. The Hornets committed only one turnover across the first 24 minutes, but shot 44.7 percent from the floor.
Griffin missed his first five 3-point attempts, but ended up 4-for-11.
The Pistons had Tony Snell back after a four-game absence because of a hip injury.
The Hornets played without center Cody Zeller, who has a hip contusion.
--Field Level Media
Detroit | Charlotte | |
Blake Griffin 26 | Scoring | Bismack Biyombo 19 |
Derrick Rose 8 | Assists | Devonte' Graham 15 |
Andre Drummond 21 | Rebounds | Bismack Biyombo 9 |
Blake Griffin 4 | Free Throws Made | Nicolas Batum 5 |
Bruce Brown 1 | Steals | Miles Bridges 1 |
Bruce Brown 1 | Blocks | Nicolas Batum 2 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Detroit | 101 | 46.6 | 10-32 | 9-15 | 23 | 46 | 2 | 2 | 9 |
Charlotte | 102 | 44.3 | 7-30 | 17-20 | 27 | 41 | 7 | 3 | 4 |