CHARLOTTE, N.C. _ No Andre Drummond, no problem for the Detroit Pistons.
The Pistons took control in the third quarter Tuesday _ despite losing Drummond to a second quarter ejection _ on their way to a key 112-89 thumping of the Charlotte Hornets at the Spectrum Center.
Tobias Harris led five Pistons double-figures scored in double figures with 24 points. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope recorded 18 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Marcus Morris added 18 and Ish Smith contributed 13 points.
The Pistons (9-10) moved to 2-8 away from the Palace.
Kemba Walker led the Hornets (10-8) with 23 points.
Drummond was ejected after receiving a Flagrant-2 for an elbow that appeared to glance off the back of Roy Hibbert's head late in the second quarter.
After going 1-for-19 from 3-point range in Saturday's loss at Oklahoma City, the Pistons started 3-for-5 from deep in running to an early 20-9 lead. The Pistons finished 12-for-28 (43 percent) from 3-point range.
But Walker kept the Hornets around with 10 points in the first quarter, although the Pistons took a 33-25 lead. Harris scored 12 points in the first quarter.
Drummond was ejected at the 4:09 mark of the second quarter in the midst of a 12-0 run that gave the Hornets a 52-48 lead.
But Smith scored seven straight and the Pistons took a 57-54 lead into halftime.
Caldwell-Pope nailed two triples late in the third quarter to give the Pistons an 84-74 lead going into the fourth quarter.
An Aron Baynes jump-hook and Jon Leuer put-back off an offensive rebound gave the Pistons their then-largest lead of the night, 88-74.
Before the game, Van Gundy gave his usual compliment to Hornets coach Steve Clifford, also one of best friends.
Van Gundy is constantly on weak-side defenders to sink into the lane to help against pick-and-rolls, and he said the Hornets are the best in the league at the defensive maneuver.
"He's in his fourth year here and that's the one consistent thing," Van Gundy said of Clifford. "They're probably the best team in the league, they are the best team in the league of really pulling in. They don't give you many layups at all and then they make great effort to close out.
"We're trying to get our guys more and more into that mentality. They're the best in the league at it."
