Pistons crush Hornets in final home game
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Auburn Hills, MI (SportsNetwork.com) - Jodie Meeks scored 24 points off the bench to lead the Detroit Pistons in a 116-77 rout of the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday afternoon.
Anthony Tolliver and Greg Monroe each tallied 17 points, while Andre Drummond registered a 15-point, 19-rebound double-double in the win.
"Really proud of our players. I've said it many times. They have really hung in there and really played hard," Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy said.
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Noah Vonleh's first career double-double was the lone bright spot for an otherwise poor performance by the Hornets, who have dropped four straight. The rookie from Indiana finished with 16 points and 14 rebounds in under 29 minutes.
"We've got to put more into the games. With the injuries, we're a little bit out-manned. Instead of putting more into it, we got guys putting less into it," Hornets coach Steve Clifford said.
Detroit bolted out of the gate with a 12-2 run over the opening 4 1/2 minutes of action.
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The Pistons made over half of their shots in the first quarter and limited Charlotte to 4-of-19 shooting. Drummond ripped 11 rebounds in the first 12 minutes to lead the dominating performance, and Meeks supplied the final eight points of an 11-2 run to help the Pistons to a 30-10 lead entering the second.
Detroit led by as many as 34 in the second quarter and brought a 59-34 lead into the locker room at half.
The Pistons cruised the rest of the way to wrap up their home slate with a lopsided win.
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Game Notes
Detroit went 18-23 at the Palace of Auburn Hills ... P.J. Hairston was helped off the floor by teammates after Drummond fell onto his leg early in the fourth quarter ... Al Jefferson (knee sprain) and Lance Stephenson (toe sprain) both missed the contest for Charlotte ... Charlotte had won three in a row in Detroit ...The Hornets end the season with a home meeting against Houston on Monday and at Toronto on Wednesday ... Detroit will close out the schedule with a two-game road trip to Cleveland and New York.