DETROIT _ The Detroit Pistons were able to crush the Atlanta Hawks without scoring production from Blake Griffin.
They couldn't make it consecutive such outings Sunday afternoon at Little Caesars Arena.
The Charlotte Hornets took control in the second half on the way to a 113-103 victory.
Two nights after scoring six points against the Hawks in a 15-point victory, Griffin scored 10 points on 4-for-16 shooting.
Griffin was frustrated by no-calls during the game.
He received a technical foul early, and was ejected with 7:06 remaining after receiving a flagrant-1 after a hard foul against the Hornets' Malik Monk.
Pistons coach Dwane Casey defended Griffin after the game.
"He's getting hit on a lot of shots," Casey said. "That frustration builds up and he's had a lot of load on him. Bringing the ball up the floor, handling the basketball, being a point forward and then going down in the paint and battling down there.
"I think it's taking its toll on him so I got to do a better job of getting him some more relief, getting him out of the game a little bit more, finding places he can rest.
"Officials are not going to change the way they're calling it so we have to adjust, but I do think he's getting banged and hit down there."
After a lengthy wait for Casey to sit at the postgame podium, Griffin wasn't available by the time the locker room was open to reporters.
Andre Drummond had his fifth 20-20 game of the season with 23 points and 22 rebounds.
But he was no match for Kemba Walker and Tony Parker.
The Pistons struggled to stay in front of Walker, who finished with 24 points.
Parker, the longtime San Antonio Spur, scored 24 points for the Hornets (7-6), who surged to a 21-point lead in the second half.
Reggie Bullock scored a career-high 23 points on 6-for-9 shooting from 3-point range.
But the Pistons (6-6) struggled from 3-point range, shooting 12-for-45 (26.7 percent).
Bad 3-point shooting has been a regular occurrence for the Pistons.
Casey rattled off the areas where the Pistons had the advantage Sunday.
"We got a 104 shots up, 10 turnovers and shoot 39 percent," Casey said. "I would say it was a lot of us.
"The analytical people say we had four bad 3s and that still leaves us 41 (good attempts). They're a good defensive team, I'm not taking anything away from them. They came in here and did what they had to do, but we're our own worst enemy in certain situations."
The Pistons had 22 offensive rebounds and converted them into 26 second-chance points.
"I think we played hard and played the right way," Reggie Jackson said. "We brought energy and I think we took good shots. They just didn't go in. I think it was too much up and down of our energy, that was the biggest thing.
"We just have to find a way to be consistent for 48 minutes."
