2024-01-24

Detroit Pistons take advantage of shorthanded Hornets in 113-106 win in Monte Morris’ debut

Omari Sankofa II, Detroit Free Press

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The Detroit Pistons won their third game of the season over a Toronto Raptors team that had just traded OG Anunoby.

They won their fourth game of the season, over the Wizards in Washington, a day after the two teams swapped role players in Marvin Bagley III, Isaiah Livers, Mike Muscala and Danilo Gallinari.

On Wednesday, the Pistons hosted a Charlotte Hornets team missing former starting guard Terry Rozier, who was dealt to the Miami Heat on Tuesday.

Once again, the Pistons capitalized, beating the Hornets, 113-106, at Little Caesars Arena behind a 33-point effort from Bojan Bogdanovic. It was a tightly-played game with 22 lead changes, 14 ties, and neither side leading by more than eight points.

Detroit went scoreless for 5 minutes in the latter stages of the fourth quarter. The Hornets scored 10 straight in that span to turn a 100-94 deficit into a four-point lead. But an Alec Burks 3-pointer brought the Pistons within one and sparked an 12-2 run to close out the win. Jalen Duren delivered the dagger 37 seconds left, finishing a dunk to give the Pistons a 110-106 cushion.

Flint native Monte Morris finally made his season debut for the Pistons after the team traded for him last offseason. He missed their previous 43 games due to lower back tightness and a right quad strain, and had seven points, three assists and three rebounds in 11 minutes.

Cade Cunningham, who was expected to return from a seven game absence with a left knee strain, was downgraded from “probable” to “questionable” Wednesday morning and was ultimately held out.

“He won’t play tonight,” Williams said. “We just feel like it’s gotta get more reps, get his conditioning where we want it to be before we put him out there. We felt like we were in a good place, but just decided to make sure he’s in a good place before he gets out there.”

Burks (15 points), Jalen Duren (14 points, eight rebounds) and Isaiah Stewart (11 points, eight rebounds) all scored in double figures. Brandon Miller led Charlotte with 23 points, seven rebounds and four assists.

Morris shines in debut

It was expected that Morris, the veteran point guard who started ramping up a few weeks ago, would make his debut before the end of January. Lower back tightness held him out of preseason and Detroit’s first month of action, and he suffered another setback in late November when a right quad strain put him on crutches and required a PRP injection to promote healing.

Safe to say, he was eager to see the floor ahead of his first basketball game since March 31.

“I’m like a kid off the first day of school,” Morris told reporters during the team’s shootaround Wednesday morning. “It just feels good to get back out there and help the guys out. I’m excited. I don’t know what my minutes are going to look like, but I’m gonna do what I do when I get a chance, go out there and play my game and just have fun, man. It’s a blessing. I thank God for letting me get through this tough journey. It helped me sit back and see the team and also just revitalate myself and test my mental strength.”

Morris checked in for the first time with 4:02 remaining in the opening period. He was on a minutes restriction due to his long layoff, but made the most of his minutes by quickly knocking down a 3-pointer and midrange jumper, leading a 10-2 Pistons run that gave them the lead, 28-26.

He was replaced by Sasser at the start of the second quarter and checked back in for the second and final time with 7:34 left in the third. The Pistons had just given up a 9-2 run, but a 10-0 run immediately followed Morris’ return to take their biggest lead up to that point, 76-68. During the run, Morris hit a midrange jumper before assisting consecutive buckets from Duren (floater) and Killian Hayes (3-pointer).

Monty Williams expects Morris’ shooting and ball control to be a big lift for the team.

“He can make a shot and knows how to play the pick and roll, always been a low-turnover guy,” Williams said during his pregame availability. “His assist-to-turnover ratio has always been, since college. Defensively he’s in the right spot. For me, there’s still unknowns because I’ve never coached him in a game. There’s stuff to learn. We’ll see how it goes. He won’t play for a ton of minutes because of where he’s at. It’s good to get another guard with experience on the floor.

“I’m hopeful that it’s a positive effect on the team,” he continued. “Obviously we have a lot of work to do to win an NBA game, but we hope that he has a great effect on that.”

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Next up: Wizards

Matchup: Pistons (5-39) vs. Washington (7-36).

Tipoff: Noon Saturday; Little Caesars Arena, Detroit.

TV/radio: Bally Sports Detroit; WXYT-FM (97.1).