"Not so long ago, a contest against the Charlotte Hornets was not likely to meaningfully raise the heart rate of anyone on the opposing side. Maybe the sight of LaMelo Ball's unpleasant red tattoos would cause a moment's perturbation, but nothing acute, nothing to flush the face or crease the forehead. The basketball would be easy enough: For the most part you could wait around for the Hornets to defeat themselves."
"The Pistons treat everybody rudely. They might be the NBA's roughest bunch, and some of the league's also-rans seem to shrink from their snarling physicality. The Hornets did not. In the third quarter, with the Pistons leading by eight points, things were getting angsty. Following a Jalen Duren offensive foul, Ball threw some moves at Detroit's Duncan Robinson and drove to the lane, but lost his dribble and then was annoyed into a three-second penalty by the digging and swiping of Robinson and Duren."
"On Detroit's next possession, Cade Cunningham tried to feed Duren in the paint but Moussa Diabate bumped Duren and batted the ball away, and the Pistons settled for a lousy Tobias Harris mid-ranger, which missed. The ball squirted out of bounds and Detroit kept possession. Duren and Diabate, both pretty fired up, chirped back and forth, and the Hornets broadcast chose a good time to talk about Detroit's bullying style."
The Charlotte Hornets have transformed into an athletic, feisty, and organized team, winning nine straight and 12 of 15 with several dominant performances. The Detroit Pistons play a rough, physical style that intimidates many teams, but the Hornets did not back down. In the third quarter, with the Pistons up eight, Jalen Duren committed an offensive foul; LaMelo Ball lost his dribble and was annoyed into a three-second penalty after contact from Duncan Robinson and Duren. On the following possession, Moussa Diabate batted away a feed to Duren, Tobias Harris missed a mid-ranger, and Duren and Diabate exchanged chirps.
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