Pistons at Bobcats
THE STORY: Short of Michael Jordan coming out of the owner's box to suit up, the Charlotte Bobcats seem to have few options to turn their sagging fortunes around. The Bobcats suffered their fifth consecutive defeat and absorbed one of their worst drubbings of the season in a 30-point loss at Atlanta on Thursday night. Charlotte was manhandled on the backboards by a 55-30 count even though Hawks center Al Horford was out with an injury. “We’re just kind of giving up now,” coach Paul Silas said. “They just beat us down. They almost got as many offensive rebounds as we got total rebounds. That’s difficult to accept.” There is one silver lining on the horizon for the Bobcats. The Detroit Pistons, losers of six straight games, will pay a visit to Charlotte on Friday night for a matchup of 2-9 teams. The Pistons fell at Milwaukee 102-93 to match their longest losing streak since dropping since straight from March 13-April 3, 2010.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, Fox Sports Detroit, SSO Charlotte (Charlotte)
ABOUT THE PISTONS (2-9): Even though Detroit fell to 0-5 on the road, there were some reasons for optimism in Thursday’s loss. C Greg Monroe scored a career-high 32 points and grabbed a season-high 16 rebounds to bounce back from his nine-point, seven-board effort in his previous game against Dallas. Guard Rodney Stuckey also returned to the lineup after missing four games due to a groin injury. He came off the bench and scored 11 points.
ABOUT THE BOBCATS (2-8): Backup center Byron Mullens took advantage of his first start to pour in 21 points – also a career high – but he got little support from his teammates. Gerald Henderson was the only other player in double figures with 16 points for Charlotte, which went 1 for 8 from 3-point range. F Tyrus Thomas, who sat out the previous game to rest his fatigued legs, failed to grab a rebound in 26 minutes of playing time.
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. Not one free throw was missed in the Pistons-Bucks game. Detroit was 24 of 24 and Milwaukee made all 17 attempts.
2. Rookie G Kemba Walker, Charlotte’s first-round pick, has hit only 11 of 41 shots in his last four games.