The Detroit Pistons were tantalizingly close to upsetting the Milwaukee Bucks on the road on Wednesday night. However, they couldn't close the deal at the charity stripe.

Rookie forward Ron Holland II missed both free throws with the game tied and one second left in regulation.

The Pistons lost 127-120 in overtime, dropping to 5-8. Fans had a field day with Holland's ill-timed bricks on social media.

@big_business compared the 19-year-old's misses to former Boston Celtics forward Grant Hill, who also failed from the free-throw line in 2023 after telling Cleveland Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell “I'll make both,” via X, formerly known as “Twitter.”

Meanwhile, @jakebuuschh thinks that Holland should've gone to college to prepare for the big moment.

“If Ron Holland went to college instead of playing Ignite he hits those free throws. Playing in packed gyms in the BIG12 compared to empty G league gyms gets you ready for big time moments,” the user said.

@Dom_2k said that Holland's body language was a bad omen.

“I actually feel bad for Ron holland rn, cause I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a player’s mannerisms tell the world so blatantly they were about to miss a clutch free throw,” they said.

Pistons fans should still be excited

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Atlanta Hawks guard Dyson Daniels (5) defends against Detroit Pistons guard Jaden Ivey (23) during the second half at Little Caesars Arena.
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Detroit had nowhere to go but up after the last two seasons, as it went just 31-133 over that span. However, the Pistons are already on pace to match that win total in this season alone, signaling that the rebuild is finally working.

In addition to star guard Cade Cunningham's reliability, point guard Jaden Ivey has taken a step forward in his third year, averaging 18.6 points on 45.6% shooting with 4.9 rebounds and 3.8 assists. 20-year-old Jalen Duren has also been effective, leading the team with 9.8 rebounds per game and an 82.9 field-goal percentage.

While the Bucks game may not have gone as Detroit fans wanted, the team was competitive against a perennial playoff team the day after beating another one in the Miami Heat. That's a far cry from where the Pistons were last season.