A new low point has been reached for the Detroit Pistons.
After holding a 23-point lead in the third quarter, the Pistons lost their momentum and lead in the fourth. Brooklyn battled back and swiped the lead with about a minute left in the game. Detroit went cold to close the matchup and lost 107-105 at Little Caesars Arena.
Brooklyn snapped their ten-game losing streak by defeating the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. Pistons' head coach J.B. Bickerstaff was visibly frustrated with the result during his postgame media session. He exclaimed where he believed the Pistons went wrong in the loss.
“We lost our level of respect for the game, period. In the second half, we built a 20-point lead, and we stopped respecting the game. When you disrespect the game, it's going to bite you in the a**, and that's what happened to us tonight,” Bickerstaff explained. “No matter what the night, you have to continue to do the things that make us successful. We have to play to our identity every single night. We have to realize the reason that we're sitting in the position that we're sitting in is because of the style we're willing to play. That's not something you turn on and turn off. There's a lesson to be learned here, and it is important that we learn it.”
The fourth quarter is where the Pistons unraveled the most. Brooklyn took control of the game by outscoring Detroit 34-21 in the final period. The Pistons' offense went without a field goal in the final 3:48 seconds of the game and struggled to stop their opponents on defense.
Detroit had one final shot at tying or taking the lead back in the closing moments. Nets' forward Noah Clowney had a chance to extend their lead to two possessions but fumbled a wide-open pass out of bounds. The Pistons missed their last two looks by guard Duncan Robinson and center Jalen Duren as time expired.
The Pistons' injuries keep adding up
Detroit came into Saturday's contest without All-Star guard Cade Cunningham (quad) and defensive ace Ausar Thompson (ankle). Thompson suffered his injury within the first two minutes of their last game against the San Antonio Spurs. Cunningham's injury surprisingly sprang up on the injury report the day of the matchup.
Detroit has handled the “next man up” mentality well when approaching games with a short-handed roster. Bickerstaff decided to start guards Daniss Jenkins and Marcus Sasser in place of Cunningham and Thompson. Despite an inspired start in the first half, it did not carry over enough to finish with a victory.
Forward Tobias Harris led the Pistons with 18 points and 10 rebounds in 34 minutes. Duren recorded his 31st double-double of the season by finishing with 17 points and 14 rebounds. Robinson added 15 points in 23 minutes for the Pistons. Jenkins put up eleven points and nine assists in his time as the starting point guard. Backup center Isaiah Stewart scored ten points off the bench in his reserve role for Detroit.
