CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The Charlotte Hornets have been mediocre at the Spectrum Center this season, and so taking care of business at home has become a point of emphasis lately.

The Hornets took a step in the right direction on Wednesday night as they were able to grind out an ugly 87-77 victory over the Detroit Pistons.

They shot just 34.1 percent from the field, but they were the dominant team throughout the fourth quarter, when they were able to pull away.

Hornets coach Steve Clifford said he was pleased with the effort, and even more pleased with the result. The Hornets are now 7-6 at home this season.

"At the end of the day, you've got to win at home," Clifford said. "If you want to be a playoff team, you've got to win at home. Last year we won 29 at home, we were terrific. So we've got to get going at home. If you're a .500 team at home, it's hard to be in the playoffs. It's just not going to work out that way because you put so much pressure on yourself to win on the road."

The Hornets (13-9) had suffered their worst loss of the season to the same Pistons, 112-89, at the Spectrum Center just eight days ago.

Kemba Walker led the Hornets with 25 points, including 14 in the fourth quarter. Nicolas Batum finished with 14 points and 15 rebounds. Marco Belinelli scored 13, including a key 3-pointer that pushed a 75-73 lead to 78-73, and Marvin Williams scored 12.

"Man, it was rough," Walker said. "Tough night shooting the basketball for a lot of us. The shots just weren't falling for both teams. Both teams played hard. Defensively, I thought both teams were great, but down the stretch we were able to make some big plays and get a huge burst in the fourth quarter. It was a huge win for us."

The Hornets' 34.1 percent shooting came on 30 of 88. They were just 6 of 21 from 3-point range.

But they committed only six turnovers that resulted in only two Detroit points, and they held a huge edge at the free throw line. The Hornets finished 21 of 29 from the line to Detroit's 5 of 8.

"That's been one of our strengths this year," Clifford said. "We've been good at not fouling and we've been good at getting to the free-throw line. We've got more guys driving the ball and we're more inside-out more consistently. But we've got to make more free throws. It almost hurt us again in the second half, so we've got to make our free throws."

Andre Drummond had a monster game for the Pistons (12-12), finishing with a season-high 26 points and 20 rebounds. He was 11 of 14 from the field on a night when the Pistons shot 38.2 percent; the rest of the team combined to go 23 of 75.

But the Pistons got little else. Tobias Harris scored 14 but was 7 of 19 from the field, and Reggie Jackson was the only other player in double figures with 10.

"It was a hard-fought game," Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy said. "Both teams struggled offensively. Clearly if you can make some open shots, you would win the game. The difference in the game, if you look at the stat sheet, the glaring difference in the game is at the free-throw line. They got to the line 29 times. We got to the line eight times. Ballgame. That was the entire game right there."

"We had a tough night offensively," Drummond said. "We were four of 27 from three, and when you shoot that percentage from three throughout the game, it's going to be tough to come back because nobody is really getting any shots in the paint. When we did have open shots we couldn't knock them down."

NOTES: Hornets F Marvin Williams returned after missing the previous six games with a hyperextended knee. He played 26 minutes and was 5 of 10 from the field with five rebounds. ... The Hornets are now 9-0 when holding opponents under 100 points. ... The Hornets assigned G Aaron Harrison and F Christian Wood to Greensboro of the NBDL on Wednesday. It's the third time this season Harrison has been sent down. ... The Pistons were coming off a 102-91 win over Chicago on Tuesday. ... Pistons G Reggie Jackson was playing his first back-to-back of the season after missing the first 21 games while rehabbing a knee injury. He played 25 minutes and was 4 of 12 from the field with four turnovers. ... The Hornets have committed the fewest number of fouls in the NBA, averaging 17.0 per game. They were called for only 11 fouls Wednesday night. ... The Hornets will host Orlando on Friday. ... The Pistons will play at Minnesota on Friday.