The Detroit Pistons' three-game win streak has come to an end courtesy of the Los Angeles Clippers.
Saturday night's final score finished at 98-92 with the Pistons on the losing end. Detroit led by as many as 19 points at home against the Clippers. However, Pistons' head coach J.B. Bickerstaff did not sound the alarm of concern when reflecting on the efforts of his team after the game.
“I won't find any negative in what these guys did tonight. To go out and compete the way competed as shorthanded as they were. To put themselves in a position to even have a chance headed down the stretch, I give them a ton of credit,” Bickerstaff explained. “We have guys out of position and playing in different spots; things happen. The way they competed, the way they stuck together, they gave themselves a chance. There's nothing negative about what happened to these guys tonight.”
Injuries continue to impact the Pistons with their production and their availability. They came into the game missing four key contributors, including Cade Cunningham (right wrist contusion), Jalen Duren (ankle), Tobias Harris (hip), and Isaiah Stewart (illness).
Detroit fought hard to open the first half with the players they had available. Their defense effort was strong when they held the Clippers to 41 points on 37.8% shooting from the field and 28.6% from 3-point range. The Pistons found themselves up 55-41 after the first two periods.
The second half was a different story as Los Angeles outscored Detroit 57-37. The fourth quarter showed the biggest gap as the Pistons were outscored 30-16.
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Detroit's defense continues to be their most important calling card. They forced 21 turnovers by the Clippers to help keep their lead in a promising position. This helped charge 21 fast-break points and 46 points in the paint for the Pistons.
There was also a much-improved defensive effort against the Clippers' stars. Forward Kawhi Leonard had a monster performance in their last matchup with 55 points. He was held to a quiet first half with 12 points and finished the night with 26. Guard James Harden put up 19 points but was limited to 4-of-20 shooting from the field and 1-of-7 from 3-point range. Bickerstaff was proud when elaborating on the team's efforts against the two stars defensively.
“I think there were bunch of guys that took shots at him. So, it’s a credit to all the guy's growth on the defensive end of the floor to be able to guard him, force him into tough ones,” Bickerstaff stated. “You look at him, getting to the free throw line. I thought we did a pretty good job. There were a couple disciplined ones that we gave up, but some of those are just going to happen. But I thought all our guys did a great job defending him tonight.”
Detroit did not have their strongest game offensively versus the Clippers. They finished the night shooting 39.8% from the field and 22.9% from 3. The Pistons only made eight of their 3-point attempts, and five of those were from guard Duncan Robinson alone.
Robinson finished the night with 20 points, which all came in the first half. Forward Ron Holland chipped in 16 points in 25 minutes off the bench for the Pistons. Backup point guard Daniss Jenkins scored 10 points of his own. Center Tolu Smith filled in nicely for the Pistons' frontcourt by adding nine points and 14 rebounds. Six of those rebounds came on the offensive end from the Motor City Cruise call-up.