Charlotte Hornets head coach Charles Lee addressed Monday’s heated 110-104 loss to the Detroit Pistons at Spectrum Center, which saw four players ejected and Lee himself tossed in the fourth quarter. The Pistons snapped Charlotte’s nine-game winning streak in a game marked by physicality and confrontation.
Lee described the matchup as a strong test for his team. “This was a freaking great game for us. Phenomenal opportunity for us to play… the top seed right now,” he said. “They bring a level of physicality and competitiveness… I think overall our guys responded to every run that they went on. Our competitive spirit and togetherness was really good.”
On the third-quarter brawl, Lee said he would need to review the tape. “Just looked like… two guys kind of got in a heated conversation and then it kind of spiraled from there,” he said. He took responsibility for his ejection, explaining, “I thought we were competing our tails off… Grant’s walking down the paint and barely touched somebody and the guy fell over… I gotta have a little bit better emotional control in that moment.”
Lee highlighted his team’s competitiveness despite the loss. “I just love everything that they brought tonight. From a competitive spirit… this was a really good game for us, like a physical playoff atmosphere. The crowd was rocking for the majority of it.”
Defensively, Charlotte pressured Detroit effectively in the first half. “We did a great job of running Duncan Robinson off the three-point line and limiting them,” Lee said. “I thought some of the switching actually helped us… kept him off his rhythm. Chasing Duncan Robinson off is a task, and Tobias Harris in the post… for the most part I think we did a lot of really good things.”
Lee also confirmed a conversation with Moussa Diabate after the game. “I talked to him and that’s between Moussa and I, but he’s in a good place,” he said.
Despite the ejections and disruptions, Brandon Miller led Charlotte with 24 points, while LaMelo Ball and Kon Knueppel added 20 each. Cade Cunningham scored 33 points for Detroit, with Duncan Robinson adding 18 and Jalen Duren 15 before being ejected for sparking the fight.
Charlotte committed 21 turnovers but showed improvement from its previous matchup against the Pistons. Lee noted, “We got better from that night… I think tonight’s game will help us moving forward.”
The Hornets fall to 25-29 while Detroit improves to 39-13 in the Eastern Conference. Charlotte visits Houston on Thursday, and Detroit travels to Milwaukee on Wednesday.
