(Field Level Media) Cade Cunningham had 22 points and eight assists and the host Detroit Pistons completed a season series sweep of the Charlotte Hornets with a 114-97 victory last night. Jalen Duren supplied 20 points and 10 rebounds, Simone Fontecchio supplied 17 points and eight rebounds and Isaiah Stewart and Jaden Ivey added 12 points apiece.
Detroit has won 11 games this season, with three coming at the Hornets’ expense.
Miles Bridges led Charlotte with 24 points and Grant Williams contributed 22. Brandon Miller had 19 points and seven assists and Vasilije Micic added 11 points and seven assists.
Cunningham had 12 points and three assists in the first quarter as the Pistons grabbed a 34-23 lead. Fontecchio opened the second quarter with a 3-pointer to extend the advantage to 14.
After Charlotte pulled within eight, Detroit went on an 11-2 run, including five points from Marcus Sasser, for a 48-31 lead.
The Hornets roared back with 15 consecutive points, including two 3-pointers and three assists from Micic.
The Pistons scored the last five points of the half for a 53-46 lead. Cunningham went scoreless during the quarter while Miller finished the half with 13 points.
Detroit came out flying after the break, scoring the first seven points. Duren capped it with a dunk.
Fontecchio soon had a layup, an assist and a 3-pointer to stretch the advantage to 68-50 and force Charlotte coach Steve Clifford to call timeout.
The Hornets couldn’t make up ground during the quarter. The Pistons’ Stanley Umude drained a 3-pointer with nine seconds left in the quarter to give his club an 86-67 lead.
Detroit’s James Wiseman had a couple of dunks early in the fourth for a 94-77 lead. However, Charlotte wouldn’t go quietly.
Bridges had a personal 8-0 run to pull his team within seven points with 4:58 remaining.
Cunningham then had six points and an assist in just more than a minute to push Detroit’s advantage to 106-93. Duren’s tip-in with 1:53 left made it 110-97 and he added two free throws to close out the win.
