Oubre, Rozier help Hornets deal Pistons 10th straight loss

DETROIT (AP)— Kelly Oubre Jr. scored 27 points and Terry Rozier had 21 pointsand nine assists as the Charlotte Hornets beat Detroit 113-103 onThursday night and extended the Pistons’ losing streak to 10games.

“I thought wedid a good job of following the game plan and staying disciplined,”said Oubre, who is averaging 20.8 points in eight games sincereturning from a hand injury. “I stayed around the team 24/7 when Iwas hurt so I would be ready to go when I came back.”

P.J.Washington added 20 points and Nick Richards had 13 points and ninerebounds for the Hornets, who won their second straight game andfor the seventh time in 10 games.

“Our guys areworking hard and they are finally getting some results,” Hornetscoach Steve Clifford said. “We were really active tonight and wehad great rim protection.”

Cory Josephscored 17 points and James Wiseman had 16 points and 13 reboundsfor the Pistons.

“It’s supertough to be playing from behind every night,” Wiseman said. “Weneed to find a way to come out with better energy to get over thishump.”

Detroitplayed without four of the five starters from its season-openingwin over the Orlando Magic. Cade Cunningham (leg), Isaiah Stewart(shoulder) and Bojan Bogdanovic (Achilles) are injured, whileSaddiq Bey was traded to the Atlanta Hawks. Rookie Jaden Ivey isthe only player to start both games.

“I thoughtour approach was disappointing tonight,” Pistons coach Dwane Caseysaid. “I don’t know if it is just all the games we’ve played in ashort time, but I didn’t feel like we came out with the kind ofenergy we needed.”

The Hornetsfinished the first half with an 8-0 run and held a 59-50 lead.Charlotte used a 13-5 run at the start of the third quarter andincreased the margin to 17 points.

Joseph scored14 points in the quarter, helping Detroit close within 93-83heading to the fourth. But the Hornets extended their lead to asmany as 18 points in the sloppy closing period.

“I thoughtthat was the key stretch of the game,” Clifford said. “They had itdown to 10, but we got it to 18 early in the fourth and took awaytheir momentum.”

TIP-INS

Hornets:Charlotte beat the Pistons 117-106 at home on Feb. 27, and splitthe season series 2-2. The Hornets have won eight of their last 11games against Detroit.

Pistons:Detroit announced before the game that Stewart is suffering from aright shoulder impingement and will be evaluated again in three tofour weeks. Stewart is second on the team in blocks andrebounds.

INJURY UPDATE

Charlottecenter Mark Williams didn’t play in the second half due to a thumbinjury.

“He went backto the locker room after he did it, but he came back to try toplay,” Clifford said. “He just wasn’t able to catch the ball.Hopefully, it won’t be anything serious.”

HAPPYANNIVERSARY

The Pistonshonored the 2003 WNBA champion Detroit Shock at halftime. TheShock, who also won titles in 2006 and 2008, moved to Tulsa afterthe 2009 season and are now the Dallas Wings.

“I didn’texpect this to happen, because the franchise has been gone for awhile now,” said Shock forward Swin Cash-Canal, who was elected tothe Basketball Hall of Fame in 2022. “But they called and said theywanted to do it for Women’s History Month, and we appreciate it.They have done a top-notch job of this.”

UPNEXT

Hornets: Hostthe Utah Jazz on Saturday.

Pistons: Hostthe Indiana Pacers on Saturday and on Monday.