CHARLOTTE, N.C. _ The Detroit Pistons held the Charlotte Hornets to below 30 percent shooting well into the second half Wednesday night, but the Pistons' largest lead was only four points.
It turned into a Pistons loss.
The Hornets finally caught fire late in the third quarter and forged an 87-77 victory at the Spectrum Center.
Hornets point guard Kemba Walker scored 14 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter for the Hornets (13-9) to offset a monster night from Pistons center Andre Drummond.
Drummond scored 26 points, grabbed 20 rebounds and blocked two shots.
But the Pistons (12-12) shot below 40 percent and were 4-for-27 (14.8 percent) from 3-point range.
Reggie Jackson, in his third game since the return from left knee rehab and first appearance in a back-to-back, struggled in 25 minutes. He was 4-for-12 from the field in scoring 10 points and had four turnovers.
But he wasn't the only culprit with Drummond and Darrun Hilliard the only players to shoot 50 percent or better. Tobias Harris was 7-for-19 and 0-for-7 from 3-point range.
Jackson's struggles continued after Tuesday night's woeful 2-for-9 shooting outing against the Chicago Bulls.
He committed three turnovers over a minute-and-a-half span midway through the first quarter.
He traveled on the first and he passed the ball right to Walker on the second. He failed to chase Walker, who went down the court for the easy lay-up to give the Hornets a 15-13 lead.
An errant pass on the next possession had Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy turning to Ish Smith.
The Pistons were able to forge a 24-23 lead after the first quarter.
Both teams struggled to score in the second quarter with the Pistons taking a 39-38 lead into halftime � only the fourth time this season in the NBA where neither team reached 40 points by halftime.
The offensive struggles continued for both teams in the third quarter, but Roy Hibbert's put-back after an offensive rebound at the quarter buzzer gave the Hornets a 61-58 lead going into the fourth quarter. He beat Aron Baynes for position on the errant shot.
Forward Marvin Williams missed last week's game, but returned to the Hornets starting lineup after missing six games with a leg injury.
"It means more range-shooting for them," Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy said. "Marvin's a better shooter and Marvin's a really good defender, particularly in a match-up with a perimeter face-up guy like Tobias Harris. I think it helps them a great deal at both ends."
