The last time the Detroit Pistons had beaten the Charlotte Hornets heading into Sunday night’s contest was back on October 18, 2017. They had lost a total of 15 consecutive games against the Hornets until Kelly Olynyk’s magical buzzer-beater gave the Pistons the 127-126 victory in North Carolina.
The Hornets had also humiliated the Pistons earlier in February, defeating them 141-119.
“I think the only thing we looked at was they had 150 points against us in the last game,” Pistons’ forward Saddiq Bey said following the contest, via The Detroit News. “That’s the only motivation we needed.”
Detroit still finds themselves at the bottom of the NBA Eastern Conference with an abysmal record of 15-46, but for a team that is still re-building a win like Sunday evening’s goes a long way.
“I was really proud of our guys. It’s another step of growth. Twenty lead changes throughout the game and for us to stay resilient — I think we got down five in overtime,” Pistons’ head coach Dwane Casey told members of the media after the win, via The Detroit News. “A month ago, we probably would have hung our heads and hung our coats right at the end of regulation, but we stayed together.
“I really like the combination of Grant and also Bey on the court together. That’s been a project for us, to make sure those guys are interchangeable, and I really loved the way Kelly came in and finally found his stroke back. He and Jerami both have got their shooting touch back, but then the stops we got down the stretch were really huge for us.”
The Pistons found themselves with an opportunity to win the game at the Spectrum Center with 2.1 seconds left on the clock. Olynyk admitted after the game that the final play isn’t exactly what the team had worked on during practice.
“Sometimes you have to just read and react in this league,” Olynyk said, via Sportsnet. “I saw an opening and obviously Killian saw it as well, and that’s half the battle. You have to have both guys on the same page.”
Despite Sunday’s victory, the Pistons still have a long way to go before they can be considered playoff contenders in the competitive Eastern Conference. However, they are showing signs of potential and what they could ultimately end up being if all goes according to plan. They had selected Cade Cunningham with the first overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft and he has already proven to be a massive edition to the squad. The rookie had an impressive 19 points, five rebounds and six assists in 32 minutes of action against the Hornets on Sunday.
Fans of the Pistons will also be excited with the fact that their team will have another top pick in the 2022 draft as well considering their current position in the standings. This will likely be the third consecutive season that Detroit will miss out on the playoffs and fan are just hoping their team gets back to the dance sooner rather than later.
