Detroit @ Charlotte preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 15, 2019 ) Detroit 106, Charlotte 109

The Charlotte Hornets are losers of five in a row and nine of 11 as they get set to host the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday in the first of a home-and-home set. The Hornets will try to get some things fixed before a two-game trip that finishes at East-leading Milwaukee on Saturday.

Charlotte is giving up an average of 118.2 points during its five-game slide and allowed Miami to shoot 51.9 percent from the floor in a 117-100 setback on Monday. "It was our defensive effort, our attention to detail, our physicality, our preparation, whatever you want to call it - all of the above defensively," Hornets coach James Borrego told reporters. "Just a poor performance defensively. Not locked in, not physical enough." The Pistons are pulling themselves out of a long funk with wins in two of the last three and are thriving on the defensive end after holding Orlando to 38.1 percent from the floor in a 103-88 victory over Orlando on Monday. "What we did is executed our game plan defensively from start to finish, for the most part," Detroit forward Blake Griffin told reporters. "We let Terrence Ross get loose a little bit in the second quarter, but I thought we did a really good job of helping each other out and locking in and executing."

TV: 7 p.m. ET, FS Detroit, FS Southeast (Charlotte)

ABOUT THE PISTONS (6-11): Detroit trailed at the half on Monday but held the Magic to 33 points after the break and steadily pulled away. "I think our defense was exceptional in the second half," Pistons coach Dwane Casey told reporters. "Any time you have dynamic players like Ross and (Evan) Fournier, your attention to detail has to be there. Everybody has to be in the right place. I thought we did a much better job in the second half. Our defense is taking steps in the right direction." The offense was not quite as sharp aside from guard Luke Kennard, who rebounded from a pair of single-digit efforts by scoring 20 points on 6-of-11 shooting for his seventh 20-plus effort of the season.

ABOUT THE HORNETS (6-12): Charlotte knew this was going to be a rebuilding season when it allowed All-Star Kemba Walker to leave over the summer, and Borrego is willing to cut his team a little slack as long as he sees improvement. "This is a great challenging stretch for us and it's good for our young guys to go through it," Borrego told reporters. "Nobody said this was going to be easy. This is a tough league. This is a grown man’s league and you have to be ready. Our guys just have to stick with it and keep fighting." Second-year point guard Devonte' Graham has shown the most growth and leads the team in scoring (18.1 points) and assists (7.1).

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Pistons SG Tony Snell (hip) missed the last four games and is day-to-day.

2. Hornets PF Cody Zeller left Monday's game with a hip contusion and is day-to-day.

3. Charlotte earned a 109-106 victory over Detroit at home on Nov. 15 when Malik Monk buried a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

PREDICTION: Hornets 106, Pistons 102