Pistons 89, Hornets 87
Greg Monroe had 24 points and 16 rebounds, Rodney Stuckey scored 17 and the Detroit Pistons beat the struggling New Orleans Hornets 89-87 on Saturday night.
Tayshaun Prince and Jonas Jerebko each had 11 points in helping the Pistons win back-to-back games for first time in over a month. Rookie point guard Brandon Knight played just four minutes before suffering a broken nose. He did not return.
Trevor Ariza scored 26 points and Al-Farouq Aminu and Greivis Vasquez had 14 apiece for the Hornets, who lost for the 14th time in 15 games.
The Pistons trailed 44-41 at halftime but scored the first six points of the third quarter to go up 47-44 on Prince’s layup. The teams traded the lead until Detroit took a four-point advantage heading into the fourth.
Marco Belinelli hit a jumper and Gustavo Ayon made a layup as the Hornets tied things 65-65 when the Pistons rallied off 10 straight points. Stuckey had four points during the spurt that gave his team the 75-65 edge with 7:50 to play.
Vasquez scored seven straight points and Aminu hit a pair of free throws as the Hornets rallied back to within one just over five minutes left. Monroe and Walker Russell followed with layups and Stuckey later had a jumper for the 83-76 lead.