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Bobcats beat Pistons for first exhibition win

Oct 17, 2010 - 2:28 AM By JEFFREY COLLINS Associated Press

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- Charlotte coach Larry Brown wasn't too pleased that the Bobcats' game Saturday night got close in the end, but if it was going to happen, at least they got to work on late-game situations.

D.J. Augustin and Derrick Brown combined for 10 of 12 free throws in the final 1:03 to help Charlotte to its first win of the exhibition season, a 97-94 victory over the Detroit Pistons (2-4).

"That's a game where you had a lot of opportunities to work on things - getting it inbounds, having the right guy shoot a free throw," Larry Brown said.

While Brown liked what the Bobcats did when they had the ball, he wasn't too pleased with their late game defense. Rodney Stuckey got three driving layups in the final 30 seconds, including a three-points play with 18.3 seconds left that cut Detroit's deficit to one at 90-89.

"We got beat to the rim pretty easily," Brown said.

But with his team down three with 7.8 seconds left, Stuckey slipped on an inbounds play and Augustin picked up the loose ball, then hit two free throws to seal things.

"It was ashamed to see Stuckey slip because he had done such a great job of getting open the time before," Detroit coach John Kuester said.

Tyrus Thomas scored 10 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter. Augustin added 16 points and eight assists, and Derrick Brown scored 15 points for Charlotte.

Stuckey led Detroit with 25 points. Charlie Villanueva scored 19 points and Austin Daye added 14 for the Pistons, who lost their second game in two nights.

"It was important for us to come back with better energy than the night before and I thought we did that," Kuester said.

Both teams played a sloppy game. Charlotte turned the ball over 20 times. DeSangana Diop and Gerald Wallace each got technical fouls for complaining to the referees.

The Pistons turned the ball over 17 times, with 13 of them coming in the second half. Ben Wallace and Greg Monroe each shot an airball on a free throw, and Greg Monroe and Stuckey threw one too many passes, turning the ball over on a two-on-one with 54.2 seconds to go.

Charlotte started out hot, taking a 31-19 lead early in the second quarter, but the Pistons tied the game by the start of the third quarter.

Detroit had its biggest lead of the game at 69-63 late in the third quarter, but Sherron Collins, who is trying to win the No. 3 point guard job for the Bobcats, buried a 26-foot 3-pointer just before the buzzer.

"It was a good game," Larry Brown said. "Our young kids got to play, and their young kids got to play."