Defensive struggles doom Pistons in loss to Pacers

109. 64. Final. 114. 100

D.J. AUGUSTIN. C-. That turnover with 14 seconds to go was brutal, and Augustin was off all night. He shot just 4 of 14 and turned it over four times, but he was solid as a playmaker. It was his defense against George Hill that hurt most. Hill posted him up repeatedly, and when he didn’t score one of the bigs grabbed an offensive board.. PG. Pistons

Caldwell-Pope left the game early in the first quarter with what was announced a sore Achilles — which, at least, is better than a rupture. The Pistons REALLY missed his presence defensively. Too many times in the forth quarter, Pacers shooters found themselves wide open when Pistons defenders got caught tracking the ball movement. Caldwell-Pope’s individual defense isn’t perfect, but he’s a very good off-ball defender. Hopefully this isn’t a long-term issue.. SG. Pistons. KENTAVIOUS CALDWELL-POPE. INC

C-. He made his shots count — like his 3-pointer in the final minutes — but was part of a team issue defensively. No Piston could find their man around the 3-point line, and that was why they lost.. SF. Pistons. KYLE SINGLER

Pistons. GREG MONROE. C. Length gives Monroe trouble, and if Roy Hibbert has anything it’s a whole lot of shot-bothering length. He wasn’t great defensively against either Hibbert or David West.. PF

B+. It was a solid effort from Drummond, but not without a few hiccups. His low-post game looked good on some of his hooks and his rebounding was elite always. But his defense wasn’t great and he (along with Greg Monroe) struggled to get out on the Pacers’ jump-shooting bigs.. C. Pistons. ANDRE DRUMMOND

B-. Meeks stated the game with a pair of triples and eventually hit four of his first six shots. But he followed that up with misses on five of six and rode the defensive struggle bus against Indy’s 3-point barrage with the rest of the perimeter guys. It was good to see him hit some shots from outside since he’s been slumping.. SG. Pistons. JODIE MEEKS

SF. Pistons. CARON BUTLER. B-. With Caldwell-Pope out, Butler saw his most extensive playing time in weeks and made the most of it. His defense wasn’t good, but he was really productive offensively with 13 points. His four-point play in the final minutes cut the Pacers’ lead to one, but the Pistons couldn’t take the lead.

B-. It was a pretty average game for Tolliver. He made shots, rebounded enough and didn’t make too many mistakes. He should have taken his open shot with the seconds ticking away at the end of the first half.. PF. Pistons. ANTHONY TOLLIVER

B-. There wasn’t a whole lot of playing time for Anthony tonight, but he was solid when called upon. With Drummond and Monroe both on the bench at the end of the first quarter, Anthony scored some easy buckets and grabbed four rebounds.. C. Pistons. JOEL ANTHONY

Pistons. CARTIER MARTIN. F. Injuries opened the door for Martin to see some time and… two fouls and a block were all that stood between him and an 11 trillion.. SF

JOHN LUCAS. B. The vet on a 10-day contract was the best point guard on the floor for Detroit tonight. His 10 points and 6 assists were a shock, to be honest. He didn’t take any bad shots and, while his defensive effort definitely didn’t match his offense, the Pistons played well in his minutes. With a couple more efforts like this, he’ll have himself another 10 days.. PG. Pistons

B-. Losing Caldwell-Pope early was tough, but I thought Van Gundy got the most out of the bench in his absence. It was obvious — judging by his angry flails on the sideline — that the Pistons weren’t following the defensive game plan. They got blitzed from the perimeter without their best perimeter defender, that’s not surprising. What was surprising is how bad the Pistons were against Hibbert and West, who combined to shoot 15 of 22. The defense wasn’t there and, as Greg Kelser noted at the end of the game, 109 points should have been enough to win.. Head Coach. Pistons. STAN VAN GUNDY