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Pistons give up 14-point lead in loss to Cavs

By Braden Shackelford

Feb 24, 2015; Auburn Hills, MI, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) takes a shot against Detroit Pistons guard Reggie Jackson (1) during the first quarter at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 24, 2015; Auburn Hills, MI, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) takes a shot against Detroit Pistons guard Reggie Jackson (1) during the first quarter at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports /
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64. 102. 156. Final. 93

B+. Another strong performance from Jackson in just his second game. 22 points, 9 assists, and 8 rebounds tonight and he’s making things easier for his teammates. He set up Drummond with three nice alley-oops, and set up Caldwell-Pope, Prince, and Tolliver with wide open threes. I thought he could have been more aggressive late in the fourth, though. He did awesome setting his teammates up, but when they went cold from outside he should have taken a few more of those floaters. At worst he misses and gives Drummond a chance to finish.. PG. Pistons. REGGIE JACKSON

B+. Caldwell-Pope has been on fire lately and playing with a ton of confidence. He hit two nasty transition threes and has had some really good chemistry with Jackson. I also didn’t notice any defensive issues tonight.. SG. Pistons. KENTAVIOUS CALDWELL-POPE

B. The Prince is back is back at the Palace! He started the game off much better than anyone could have anticipated and played solid defense. If it wasn’t for the appalling third quarter shooting by everyone on the floor, the Pistons would have won tonight and the fans could have really celebrated his return.. SF. Pistons. TAYSHAUN PRINCE

PF. Pistons. GREG MONROE. D. Moose has a way with stretch fours. First Chris Bosh has a field day against him with a 20-plus point quarter and then Kevin Love nails eight three pointers. That’s not all his fault (looking at you, Stan), but his offense (4/13 from the floor) was equally disappointing. I really hope someone mentioned to Moose to close out on Love. If the coaching staff didn’t, which seems highly unlikely, then place the blame on the coaches.

Pistons. ANDRE DRUMMOND. B. I liked everything Drummond did tonight, but he had way too many easy misses and his free-throw shooting (1/6) hurt more than usual.. C

SPENCER DINWIDDIE. F. After a nice stretch of games the rookie played like a rookie. His third quarter was as bad as it gets.. PG. Pistons

C. Provided a really nice spark for the three short minutes he was on the floor, but also had a bad turnover to Moose down low. To be fair, Moose did loose position at the last second, but that was a bad time for a turnover.. PG. Pistons. JOHN LUCAS III

JODIE MEEKS. F. Remember when Meeks could shoot three pointers?. SG. Pistons

Pistons. CARON BUTLER. D-. 1/4 and four fouls to go with it in 17 minutes.. SF

C. Just 2/5 from the floor, but I loved his energy on both ends of the floor tonight.. PF. Pistons. ANTHONY TOLLIVER

Pistons. STAN VAN GUNDY. D. Blew a 14-point lead in the third, because they couldn’t hit a shot. Only 12 points in the entire third quarter and 19 points in the fourth after 65 points total in the first half. The Pistons let Kevin Love torch them from three to the tune of eight triples. I also hated that Van Gundy let rookie point guard Spencer Dinwiddie own the third quarter. I know Jackson and the other starters need rest, but I thought he could have tightened the rotation tonight instead of letting the bleeding leak into most of the fourth quarter. I also hated that he left Moose in the game by himself with the second unit. Monroe had been held in check all night and couldn’t buy a bucket. Jackson and Drummond on the pick-and-roll was the way to go, even with Drummond’s poor foul shooting. With the eighth seed within reach, starting the game blazing hot to go up 14 points, only to lose? This one really, really stings.. Head Coach

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