James Harden latest MVP candidate to dominate Pistons

Final. 103. 169. 93. 64

A-. Monroe seemed to lack lift offensively (even more than usual), getting by with strong footwork and aggressiveness. But he also looked more explosive while defending well near the rim. Not sure what to make of that, but it’s clear Monroe (19 points, eight rebounds, three assists, four steals and a block) was the Pistons’ best player tonight.. PF. Pistons. GREG MONROE

When Drummond (4-of-16 from the field, 0-of-3 from the line) had the ball in his hands, something bad was probably happening – <a href=. C. Pistons. ANDRE DRUMMOND. D

C-. Jackson (17 points on 7-of-16 shooting with seven assists and four turnovers) struggled to find the balance between doing to little and too much. There wasn’t much natural offensive flow with him tonight – certainly in part a product of his teammates struggling.. PG. Pistons. REGGIE JACKSON

KENTAVIOUS CALDWELL-POPE. D+. Caldwell-Pope defended James Harden reasonably well in the first half, but the Pistons shooting guard essentially neglected in his own offense. In the second half, Caldwell-Pope looked for his shot more often, but that helped neither Detroit’s scoring – he was 0-of-6 on 3-pointers – nor his energy for defending Harden.. SG. Pistons

D+. All the Pistons’ small forwards get a collective, “eh.” Williams was a little more involved.. F. Pistons. SHAWNE WILLIAMS

Pistons. TAYSHAUN PRINCE. D+. Prince a little less.. SF

D+. Butler split the difference. But the outputs were all similarly underwhelming enough.. SF. Pistons. CARON BUTLER

D. Meeks did a good job getting to the rim, running the floor and driving hard. He just didn’t finish well enough.. SG. Pistons. JODIE MEEKS

Tolliver shot 1-for-7, missing all six of his 3-pointers. If he’s not scoring, he doesn’t make up for it in other areas.. PF. Pistons. ANTHONY TOLLIVER. F

F. Dinwiddie missed all four of his shots and had no assists. The ball moved decently well he played, but that seemed like a product of his floormates knowing he wasn’t up to serving as a hub.. PG. Pistons. SPENCER DINWIDDIE

A. Martin made both his shots, 3-pointers, to help turn garbage time into semi-meaningful minutes.. SF. Pistons. CARTIER MARTIN

STAN VAN GUNDY. C-. For the second straight game, the Pistons got torched by an MVP candidate. This time, it was James Harden 38 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists. Van Gundy just doesn’t have a roster that can compete with that. At least the team competed hard, going on a late run to cut into a 24-point deficit. Still, Van Gundy needs to do a better job adjusting to be overmatched. He stuck with the status quo pedestrian rotation too long when more unconventional lineups might have increased variance – and the Pistons’ chances of winning a game they had no business winning.. Head Coach. Pistons