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The era of star power forward Blake Griffin with the Detroit Pistons got off to quite a great start when he was acquired in a surprising trade with the L.A. Clippers back in late January. Detroit won its first four games that Griffin played in and managed to get their record back above .500 in a tight Eastern Conference playoff race.
However, the Pistons have now lost nine of their last 11 games as the window for the playoffs continues to rapidly close on them. Even more strange is a factoid that was dug up by ESPN Stats & Info about the Pistons since Griffin's arrival, which points out that all six of Detroit's wins during the Griffin era have been against team's playing their second game of a back-to-back.
The Pistons are 6-9 since Blake Griffin debuted with the team.
All of their wins have come against teams playing on the second night of a back to back.
Pistons host the Raptors tomorrow (Raptors at home vs Hawks tonight).
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) March 6, 2018
That simply is not going to cut it for the Pistons down the stretch of the season, as the wheels on Detroit's wagon have seemingly come off as of late. Last night at Quicken Loans Arena, the Pistons were blown out 112-90 by a highly-inconsistent Cleveland Cavaliers squad.
Against the Cavs, only three players on the Pistons scored in double figures on the night as Detroit lost their third game in a row. Griffin led the Pistons in scoring with 25 points on a solid 10-of-22 shooting from the field but didn't get much help besides that. Star center Andre Drummond had 15 points (5-of-5 shooting) and nine rebounds, while small forward Reggie Bullock was the only other Detroit player to finish in double figures with 11 points and two blocked shots.
On Wednesday night, the Pistons will host the Eastern Conference's No. 1 seed in the Toronto Raptors in a nationally-televised contest. The Raptors play the Atlanta Hawks tonight, so the Pistons will see Toronto on the second night of a back-to-back.
