CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The play definitely had game-changing potential.

The Detroit Pistons were clinging to a 96-93 lead against the Charlotte Bobcats with less than three minutes remaining Wednesday night at Time Warner Cable Arena.

That's when Bobcats rookie Michael Kidd-Gilchrist got the ball in the paint and exploded to the rim.

Pistons center Greg Monroe tried to block the dunk, but that only became a part of Kidd-Gilchrist's highlight tape.

The crowd was energized, and it looked like the Pistons were on their way to dropping another close one.

But they retained their composure and Monroe answered two key buckets down the stretch as the Pistons held on for their fourth victory out of six games -- a 105-99 victory.

"It happens all the time in the NBA," said Pistons point guard Jose Calderon, who continued his hot shooting by going 4-for-4 from three-point land for 17 points. "We just got to stay calm and keep playing good basketball.

"We were doing what we were supposed to. You cannot just get crazy and try to get it back or something. This is the NBA. These guys jump really high -- some of us."

The Pistons won only their seventh road game of the season (18 losses) and their second road contest in a row. Kidd-Gilchrist's play is an example of the type of energy play that might have caused the team to wilt in previous games.

"It was a good play obviously," said Monroe, who finished with 19 points, seven assists and seven rebounds. "I wouldn't say it motivated me. It was just crunch time. Whether that play happened or not, I think I would have been doing the same things.

"I have to commend the team for not letting that change the momentum of the game. Guys went down, gave me the ball, I got a bucket and the composure stayed with us."

The Pistons (22-34) opened up an 11-point lead midway through the fourth quarter after a Kyle Singler lay-up, but couldn't put the pesky Bobcats (13-41) away. The Pistons gave up 11 triples for the game and Byron Mullens' back-to-back three-pointers narrowed the deficit to 94-91.

Kidd-Gilchrist's dunk cut the lead to one, but Monroe beat Bismack Biyombo for a layup.

Kemba Walker (24 points) answered with a pull-up jumper, but Calderon answered with two free throws. Two more Walker free throws made the score, 100-99, but Monroe scored another layup off an assist from Will Bynum.

The Bobcats had trouble matching up with Monroe all night as he was 7-for-13 from the field. They tried Mullens, Biyombo and Kidd-Gilchrist.

"We felt like none of them could stop him during the game," Calderon said. "They were small so we knew if they started helping that we were going to be able to knock down some wide-open shots."

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