The LA Clippers' great start to the season took a huge hit on Saturday night in what a heated head coach Doc Rivers called “a step backwards.” Coming off of solid win in Portland against the Trail Blazers that moved them to a perfect 4-0, the Clippers struggled against the balanced effort of the Detroit Pistons, losing their first game of the season in a bit of an embarrassing fashion, 95-87.
“I don't think we had the right spirit tonight.” said a visibly upset Rivers after the game. “I didn't think we played together. As a team, we've been great, but today was a step backwards. We played the blame game, pointing fingers at each other. That's something we haven't done until today.”
Making his third start of the season, Austin Rivers had his best game leading the way with 20 points on 6-8 shooting from beyond the arc to go along with four steals. Blake Griffin had a 19-point, 11-rebound double-double but shot just 27% from the field. Danilo Gallinari's early season struggles also continued as he put up 13 points on just 4-16 shooting.
Although they played hard and came away with the win, the Pistons did not play staggeringly great, as they trailed for most of the first half and trailed 45-55 at halftime. The deficit may not have seemed large, but it felt like the Clippers could come out and step on their throats to earn their fifth straight victory.
The exact opposite happened, however, as Detroit scored eight straight points to open up the third quarter and get within two points. The back-and-forth throughout the third allowed the Pistons to remain within striking distance, and Detroit put their foot on the pedals in the fourth, outscoring the Clippers 28-15 and giving LA it's first loss of the season.
“We deserved to lose,” added Rivers. “We lost the lead because our heads weren't right for whatever reason. Maybe because we were 4-0, I don't know what the f*** the reason was. We're going to be a really good team, but we're never going to be a good team if we play and act like that. I hate to lose, but to me, we deserved to lose tonight.”
Andre Drummond finished with 15 points, 17 rebounds, and three blocked shots while Reggie Jackson added 15 points and seven assists. Tobias Harris and Avery Bradley scored 12 apiece, but the timely scoring punch came from guard Langston Galloway, who scored 11 of his 13 points in the fourth quarter helping Detroit to the victory.
The 33% mark from the field didn't seem to bother coach Rivers as much as some of the little things like getting back in transition. Fully aware that this Pistons' team likes to run, the Clippers were outscored 22-7 in fastbreak points.
“We may be due for not playing well or not executing well, but not acting right, you're not due for that. To me, that's inexcusable. If we want to be a good team, we have to own up to it, and that's exactly what they heard after the game.”
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After a marvelous performance against the Blazers in which he put up 16 of his 25 points in the final period including a game winning three-pointer, Blake Griffin came shooting back down to earth with no points and a turnover in the fourth quarter of this one. Griffin, who finished with 19 points, 11 rebounds, and four assists on just 5-18 shooting, knows this team has to be on his back most nights, and admitted his shot selection didn't pan out like he wanted it to.
“I thought at times, I settled and didn't attack enough,” explained Griffin. “We need better ball movement, moving from side to side, getting out in transition, defending better, not always taking the ball out of the basket; those are things that jump out right away. This is another good learning tool for us. If our wins are good learning tools, then our losses have to be even better.”
Things don't get any easier as the defending NBA Champion Golden State Warriors march into Staples Center on Monday night having won 10 straight games against the Clippers dating back to 2015. The last time LA beat Golden State was on Christmas Day 2014, and forward Danilo Gallinari is already looking forward to the matchup.
“Hopefully, we'll change that on Monday,” Gallinari responded when told about the Clippers' losing streak to the Warriors.
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