The Detroit Pistons will play after a loss for the first time this season when they meet the visiting Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday night.
The Pistons fell 111-97 to the host New York Knicks on Tuesday night, so they won’t have long to fuss about the result. Wednesday will complete Detroit’s first back-to-back set of the season.
The team was outscored 63-25 across the second and third quarters in New York.
“We’ll play better,” Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “It’s early in the year. … Defensively we did things that are uncharacteristic of our group.”
Bickerstaff was disappointed in his team’s foul trouble. He said the Pistons played with their usual physicality and suggested they shouldn’t be punished for that.
Meanwhile, Charlotte’s Brandon Miller scored a career-high 39 points in Monday night’s 110-103 home victory against the Washington Wizards. He has eclipsed the 30-point mark in back-to-back games since beginning the season making just 9 of 35 shots from the floor.
“It makes me smile every day, man, just to see other NBA guys put all their trust into me,” Miller said. “My teammates motivate me a lot, and it builds my confidence to just go out there and make every winning play that I can.”
Hornets coach Charles Lee said Miller showed a high level of maturity when he was in a good rhythm.
“The thing that was most impressive was him wanting the ball in a clutch situation and understanding what we needed to get out of some of those looks down the stretch,” Lee said.
Lee is trying to build confidence in Miller, who among holdovers from the team’s 2025-26 roster is perhaps the most accomplished player.
“When your best player is being elite on defense and offense, it makes you a really good team,” Lee said.
As for the Pistons, they have had a different leading scorer in all four games this season, with Paul Reed holding that honor with 22 points vs. the Knicks. He was boosted by 9-for-12 shooting from the field.
The Pistons, however, had other offensive woes, namely a 9-for-37 performance from 3-point range.
Detroit rested many of its core players down the stretch against New York. Only two players — Cade Cunningham and Duncan Robinson — reached the 30-minute mark, and in total, 15 players made it into the game for the Pistons.
“There’s no lack of trust with anybody on our roster,” Bickerstaff said.
Ausar Thompson made it back into the starting lineup on Tuesday, scoring 11 points. He missed Sunday’s game in Philadelphia with an ankle injury.
Isaiah Joe (hip contusion) didn’t play for the Pistons on Tuesday.
The Hornets haven’t identified timelines for potential returns of guards Kon Knueppel (hamstring) and Coby White (calf). Neither player has appeared in a game this season.
–Field Level Media
