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A recap of the game tonight will be up soon tonight. Thank you very much for following along with me here tonight! Please enjoy the rest of your night. 

The visiting Detroit Pistons stormed to a 30 point victory over the Hornets tonight, with the All-Star break coming. Andre Drummond had 14 points and 9 rebounds for Detroit as their starting center tonight. 

Fourth quarter (END): FINAL SCORE: Pistons 106, Hornets 76. 

Fourth quarter (1:59): The Pistons now have their largest lead of the night, at 31 points, in these final minutes of the game. 

Fourth quarter (6:05): Halfway through the final quarter. Both teams have a layup - Charlotte's by Henderson, who has 17 points. Score now at 98-70 in favor of the visiting Detroit Pistons. 

Fourth quarter (8:03): 14 points and 4 rebounds for Tolliver of the Pistons, as he knocks down a huge triple from down-town! Great shot. 30 point lead for Detroit now; 96, 66. 

Monroe has been quite the asset for the Detroit Pistons tonight. He leads his team in this game, playing in a professional manner. If the Pistons end up in the playoffs this year, it'll be Greg Monroe's first experience in the post season - something he deserves. 

Fourth quarter (8:58): Maxxiel of the Hornets grabs two for his team, then a foul on the Pistons end. Charlotte needs some impressive basketball and a miracle or three if they want to pull this one off. 

Fourth quarter (9:59): Caldwell-Pope passes it way up for Drummon to finish on a breakaway. Fans of the Charlotte Hornets, the home team, are beginning to be frustrated at the game; the crowd hasn't been that loud and noticable all night. 

Fourth quarter (11:10): Second possession for Charlotte here in the fourth. Ball taken with energy to the Detroit end, Andre Drummond slams a dunk! Pistons go back up by 23. 

Final quarter of the night kicks of! 

  • Third quarter below. Score: Pistons 83, Charlotte 70

Third quarter (END): Thirteen point lead for Detroit entering the final quarter of the night. 

Third quarter (0:22): Kyle Singler drops a two-pointer from mid-range, then Drummond lays one up and in as the buzzer goes off! 

Third quarter (1:40): time runs down in the third quarter of the game, with Detroit now holding a six-point lead over the home-team Hornets. 

If you're following along here tonight, let me know via Twitter! I want to hear your thoughts on the first half and predictions for the upcoming second. @DoubleA291

Detroit will start the third quarter with the eight point lead that is just below. They started off slow, but have put themselves back in this game - and then some.  

  • Second quarter below. Score: Pistons 54, Hornets 46

Second quarter (END): the Pistons couldn't score in the final 10 seconds of the half, but they went on an 8-0 run at the end of the half, to go with their eight point lead that they'll hold heading into the second half and the third quarter. 

Second quarter (0:30): Monroe grabs two points for the Pistons as time continues to run down in the half. With now 10.4 seconds to go, the ball goes back to the Pistons as Charlotte air-balls a three pointer out of bounds. 

Second quarter (3:45): Andre Drummond of the Pistons called for his second of the night. Charlotte misses, blocked by Andre. Ball heads down to the Pistons end, KCP (Kentavious Caldwell-Pope) misses a triple for Detroit then BAM! An incredible alley-oop from Augustin to Drummond! Very very nice. 

Second quarter (3:57): Under four minutes until halftime. Timeout called by Piston's coach SVG (Stan Van Gundy). 

Second quarter (5:20): Play resumes. D.J. Augustin is back in the game, and just drained a shot off the high glass of the backboard. Pistons lead by one, 42-41. 

Second quarter (5:39): Just over five and a half minutes until halftime. Timeout is called. 

Second quarter (6:52): Another one from three point range for the home team. The visiting Pistons lead by three after a long lasting possession where they would not leave their end of the court without a basket. 

Second quarter (8:28): Timeout called by Detroit. A tight game continues to be close. 

Second quarter (10:54): Detroit grabbed the lead in the opening minute of the second quarter, but Charlotte leads 30-28. Until... a deep three for the Pistons! 31-30 Pistons lead.  

  • First quarter below. Score: Pistons 26, Hornets 27

First quarter (end): Score at the end of the first: Pistons 26, Hornets 27. 

First quarter (16.7): Pistons take their time and run out the clock on the final possession of the opening quarter. 

First quarter (1:23): Augustin makes both his free throws for the Pistons, giving his team their first lead of the game. Jerebko can't get his triple to drop for Detroit, ball heads back down to the Charlotte end where Henderson grabbed two points; he has earned the last nine points for the Hornets. 

First quarter (2:34): Detroit has tied the score at 19. 

First quarter (3:20): D.J. Augustin made a drive for the basket for the Pistons but was blocked. 15-19 Charlotte lead with time running down in this first quarter. 

First quarter (5:12): Pistons win the tip after a jump ball is called. 15-10 is the score, still in favor of the home team. 

First quarter (6:15): Charlotte's lead is now 13-6 with a triple. 

First quarter (8:30): 6-2 Hornets lead now, after two successful free throws. Pistons miss yet another shot on their end. Stripped by Detroit, taken on down, but an offensive foul. Charlotte's ball. 

First quarter (9:40): Pistons have the ball, Monroe grabs Detroit's first two points of the game. 4-2 Charlotte lead in the earliest moments of this game. 

Tip-off: The game is underway! Charlotte took the first possession of the game down for two points - the first two points of the game (scored by Zeller). Ball is then taken down to the other end by Detroit, where Zeller fouled. 

Warm ups have concluded, the starters are taking the floor, and tip-off his coming!

Tip-off time nears in Charlotte! A great matchup is set to play four quarters on the court tonight. If you're following along here, tweet at me with your predictions and thoughts on the game! @DoubleA291

  • LIVE of Detroit Pistons at Charlotte Bobcats

SVG (Stan Van Gundy) has been putting his Detroit Pistons to work on the defensive side of the court. Will be interesting to see if this shows through tonight when the game tips off at 7:00 pm EST from the Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, North Carolina

The records entering tonight for both teams:

  • Detroit: 20-32
  • Charlotte: 22-29

Less than three hours until game time now. 

Also, Charlotte actually was involved with a trade just today. Charlotte Hornets General Manager Rich Cho announced the team has acquired guards Mo Williams and Troy Daniels, along with cash considerations, from the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for guard Gary Neal and Miami's 2019 second-round draft pick, as reported by NBA.com. The team's roster remains at 15 players, as they have also released Elliot Williams from his 10-day contract. 

Notable: Charlotte Hornets' coach Steve Clifford was an assistant to the staff of current Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy for five seasons in Orlando (2007-12). Van Gundy's low-risk, low-turnover, position-oriented style of defense playing has made an impact on Clifford; the Hornets average the fewest steals in the NBA, and the fifth-fewest opponents' turnovers (12.9). 

Zeroing in on those last 17 games the Hornets have played, they are scoring only 93.8 points per game, and shooting under 50 percent from the field (41.9). They are playing successful defense though, as they have held their opponents to 89.9 points and 41.1 percent shooting in that last chunk of basketball games. 

The Hornets are 12-5 in their last 17, after starting the season 10-24. The visiting Pistons are 15-9 in their last 24, after opening their 2014-15 season with a disappointing 5-23 start. 

Now that those notes are placed below, let's look at the recent performance of the two teams that will be facing off in the Time Warner Cable Arena tonight in Charlotte, North Carolina. Above are summaries of the two team's recent performance on the floor. 

Beginning with game notes heading into the matchup tonight in Charlotte:

- The Hornets are the only NBA team that the Pistons haven't yet played during this season. The two teams will meet again on the first and twelfth of April, with the Pistons being home for both of those games. 

- The Hornets are tied for seventh in the Eastern Conference with the Miami Heat; they would have the last two playoff spots if the season ended today. 

- Both teams' top point guards will not be on the floor tonight, after both were injured in games toward the end of last month. Brandon Jennings of Detroit suffered a season-ending torn Achilles, while the Hornets lost Kemba Walker for an expected five more weeks (knee). 

- The Hornets lead the league in fewest opponents' offensive rebounds (8.4) and defensive rebounding average (80.1). 

- The Pistons lead the league in offensive rebounds per game (12.9) and are fifth in offensive rebounding percentage (27.7). 

- Jason Maxiell, now with Charlotte but a former Piston, has averaged 7.4 points on 61.9 percent shooting, 4.6 rebounds, and 2.6 blocked shots over his last five games. Comparing that to his previous 30 games this year, when he averaged 3.0 points on 39.3 percent shooting, 2.6 rebounds and 0.5 blocks. He actually had a career-high seven blocked shots Tuesday versus Washington

Above are interesting news and notes heading into the game this evening. 

This begins LIVE coverage of the matchup between the Charlotte Hornets and the Detroit Pistons from the Time Warner Cable Arena on VAVEL. From now until closer to game time, stay tuned for analysis, news, quotes, and more. Then stick around for the entirety of the game for minute to minute updates as the game progresses. 

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About the author
Aaron Durant
Eighteen-year-old aspiring motorsports journalist. I lead The Apex as its editor-in-chief. Read my work at TheApex.racing.