Ball’s return to the floor by Burks and Pistons is marred by OT win

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Alec Burks scored a season-high 27 points off the bench, Killian Hayes added 25 and the Detroit Pistons spoiled LaMelo Ball’s return to the floor with a 141-134 overtime victory against the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday night.

Burks scored five in overtime, including his fourth 3-pointer. The Pistons were up by 1:47.

Bojan Bogdanovic scored 24 points, while Isaiah Stewart added 19 points and 11 rebounds to Detroit’s (8-22) record. Jalen Duren grabbed eight rebounds to end a three game losing streak for the Pistons.

Kelly Oubre Jr. led the Hornets with 28 points. Terry Rozier added 25 points, despite only shooting 2 of 13 from beyond arc.

Ball scored 23 points on 9 of 18 shooting and had 11 assists in his first game back since Nov. 16, when he was injured. He was fouled with 29.6 seconds remaining in regulation. The Hornets won overtime 14-7.

Charlotte’s Jalen McDaniels scored 21 points.

Ball was a little rusty in the beginning, with five of his six first 3-point attempts failing to hit the front rim.

However, he started to heat up during the fourth quarter. He hit back-toback 3s and a fadeaway in left corner to reduce Detroit’s lead by five. Ball drove the lane and passed to McDaniels at the top for a 3 pointer to tie it with 9 1/2 minutes remaining.

Bogdanovic missed an easy fall-away jumper at the end of regulation. The game was tied. The Hornets got the rebound, and called a timeout. There were 1.3 seconds remaining to call a timeout and set up a side play inbounds. Rozier’s 3-pointer, which was not balanced from the corner, bounced off the rim and went out just as the buzzer sounded. This sent the game into overtime.

With 1:11 remaining, Burks/Hayes drained consecutive 3s in the extra period to give Detroit a lead of 138-134.

SILAS IS REMEMBERED

The Hornets paid tribute to Paul Silas (ex-coach), with a moment in silence and a video before the game. The team is wearing a commemorative “Silas” patch on the left sleeve of its pullovers for the remainder of the season.

Silas spent eight seasons as a Hornets player in two different tenures.

He is third in club history for games coached (401), wins (193), and winning percentage (.481). He is also the all-time leader in each category of playoff games with an overall record 11-12.

TIP-INS

Pistons: Made 18 3-pointers.

Hornets – McDaniels experienced a very embarrassing moment after he was given a backdoor pass by Mason Plumlee. He attempted a one handed dunk but the ball bounced off of the rim, and flew over McDaniels’ bench. … …

UP NEXT

Pistons will host Sacramento Friday night.

Atlanta hosts the Hornets on Friday night

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

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