JB Bickerstaff toast Pistons for holding Hornets to 10 4th quarter points

All season long, the Detroit Pistons have built a familiar identity to its fans. While Cade Cunningham was having the best year of his career, the core identity of the team was built upon defense. Similar to the Pistons teams of the early to mid-2000s, Detroit has played a physical brand of basketball, especially on the defensive end.

It’s that defense of theirs that propelled them to the top of the Eastern Conference this season. Even with only a handful of games left in the regular season, the Pistons aren’t letting up on that end of the floor. Detroit coach JB Bickerstaff praised his team for their effort in the fourth quarter against the Charlotte Hornets.

Bickerstaff said that their fourth-quarter shackling of the Hornets was the Pistons at their best. The soaring Charlotte offense was limited to just 10 points in the final frame as Detroit won 118-100.

“That was us at our best.”

Bickerstaff speaks on the #Pistons’ defensive performance in the fourth quarter, where they held the Hornets to a season-low 10 points. pic.twitter.com/LOrHQmdByh

— Coty M. Davis (@CotyDavis_24) April 11, 2026

The Pistons defense did not lose a step after Cunningham was out the last few games with a collapsed lung. With their star player back on the roster, Detroit is back to their dominant ways. The Hornets were playing the Eastern Conference leaders closely through three quarters. It looked like we were headed into a back-and-forth affair in the final quarter.

Instead, the Pistons shut the door on the Hornets and their hopes of a playoff berth. A 25-10 fourth quarter sealed the win for Detroit. It was an excellent defensive masterclass from the team: they limited the Hornets to five made baskets out of 17 attempts (all five coming inside the paint).

On the offensive side of the ball, it was not Cunningham, but Jalen Duren, who led the charge for the Pistons. The forward recorded 20 points, nine rebounds, and four assists. Cunningham, for his part, was content to play as the distributor: he recorded 14 points on 53.8% shooting and seven assists.

The Hornets are now relegated to the Play-In Tournament. The Pistons, on the other hand, will be waiting as the top seed in the Eastern Conference in the postseason.

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