The Charlotte Hornets led by seven at halftime in Detroit on Wednesday night, and then they benched their starting forward. Coach Charles Lee said Naz Reid "didn't meet our standards in the first half," so at halftime "we made a decision" that Reid would not play again.
Charlotte lost the lead midway through the third quarter and never got it back. The Detroit Pistons won 97-89, and the Hornets fell to 3-2.
Lee did not say what Reid had done. "I look forward to him meeting those standards," he said. Reid had seven points in less than 13 minutes, two nights after he had 18 points and 12 rebounds against Washington.
Detroit outscored Charlotte 32-19 in the third quarter after the Hornets had led by as many as 12 in the second. It turned the ball over 23 times, and Detroit had 13 steals. Asked about the start of the second half, Lee said Charlotte had "too many costly turnovers or slow possessions." Guard Dennis Schröder, center Moussa Diabaté and guard Grayson Allen had five turnovers each. Lee said Charlotte "just made one too many mistakes."
Guard Brandon Miller scored 31 points on 12-of-26 shooting and had 12 rebounds. Detroit guard Cade Cunningham scored 30, 10 of them in the fourth quarter, and had seven assists.
Down 76-70 after three quarters, Charlotte got within five twice in the last three minutes, on 3-pointers by Allen and Schröder. Cunningham answered each with a 3 of his own.
Charlotte again played without guard Coby White, forwards Kon Knueppel, Grant Williams and Michael Ajayi, and guard Kylan Boswell.
The Hornets play at Washington on Friday night, four days after beating the Wizards 110-103 at home.