The Charlotte Hornets remain in the race for a direct playoff spot. A convincing win against the New York Knicks and a clear victory for the Detroit Pistons against the New Orleans Pelicans.
NBA: Hornets continue to soar
Fifth win in a row for the Charlotte Hornets, who are the best team in the Eastern Conference this calendar year along with Boston and Detroit (28-12 each). The Knicks, who trailed by as many as 21 points in the Queen City and were only able to make up some ground in the final minutes, also had to learn that.
Rookie Kon Knueppel was outstanding, sniffing a triple-double with 26 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists and also draining six of his 10 threes. LaMelo Ball (22) and Brandon Miller (21) also scored more than 20 points, while Coby White added 17 points off the bench. The Knicks, on the other hand, were forced to finally let up after the break and only grabbed 24 rebounds in the entire game (Charlotte: 43).
That was also due to the disappointing Karl-Anthony Towns (13, 3 rebounds), who only played just under 22 minutes and was not even on the court at the end. The visitors’ top scorer was Jalen Brunson with a double-double of 26 points (10/23 FG) and 13 assists, although the playmaker also missed all of his six threes.
NBA: Pistons remain in commanding lead
The Detroit Pistons benefited from the Knicks’ defeat and did their own homework against the New Orleans Pelicans. As a result, the top seed can slowly be planned, with a gap of 4.5 games to the Boston Celtics. Even without Cade Cunningham, the machine worked, with all the Pistons’ starters scoring in double figures.
Daniss Jenkins (19, 9 assists) converted five of his seven threes as Cunningham’s replacement, while Jalen Duren (30, 10/12 FG, 10 rebounds, 7 assists) was once again unstoppable in the zone. In addition, the home side converted 15 of 28 threes, while just 19 turnovers were a little too many.
New Orleans took advantage of this to score just 14 points and was finally shot down in the fourth quarter (37:22 Detroit). Zion Williamson was the top scorer with 21 points (8/13), but only three Pels players were able to sink threes. They were Saddiq Bey, Jordan Hawkins and Herb Jones with three apiece, while the rest went a combined 0/11.
