Pistons fail to play playoff spoiler to Pacers

107. 100. Final. 103. 64

REGGIE JACKSON. C+. Reggie Jackson again put up big numbers, played above average defense, turned the ball over too much, and struggled shooting the ball. He also fouled out. But given that the Pistons got 34 minutes out of him, it’s hard to complain too much about that.. PG. Pistons

KENTAVIOUS CALDWELL-POPE. D. Caldwell-Pope brings little to the table besides defense and shooting. His defense has mostly been decent this year but his shooting has been pretty bad. He flipped those around for this game. I’m not sure that’s an improvement.. SG. Pistons

SF. Pistons. CARON BUTLER. B. Butler hardly impacted the game. But he did all that could reasonably be expected of him in 20 minutes on the floor.

Pistons. GREG MONROE. B. Monroe had a solid game. He got 17 and 12 without many bricks and outplayed Roy Hibbert. But it wasn’t exactly a game to write home about.. PF

C-. Drummond’s 11 points and 15 rebounds look nice enough, but Indiana wasn’t at all afraid of him. C.J. Miles and Rodney Stuckey raided the lane with impunity and the Pacers were willing to start intentionally fouling Drummond down the stretch even before the Pistons were in the bonus just because of how bad a possession that ends with Drummond free throws is for Detroit.. C. Pistons. ANDRE DRUMMOND

D. Lucas did a lot better against the Pacers than the Celtics. But he still got repeatedly killed by the backup point guard Rodney Stuckey.. PG. Pistons. JOHN LUCAS III

Prince is too slow to be in the NBA at this point. And he shoots too many long twos. Apart from that, Prince wasn’t too bad. He guarded Paul George well even though he didn’t rally slow him down.. SF. Pistons. TAYSHAUN PRINCE. D+

B+. Meeks was hitting shots for the second night in a row!. SG. Pistons. JODIE MEEKS

Tolliver appears to have lost his shooting touch down the stretch of the season, That could make it interesting whether the Pistons decide to hang onto him this summer. So it’s very possible that Tolliver has recently played himself out of a couple million dollars.. PF. Pistons. ANTHONY TOLLIVER. D+

Inc. Why does Van Gundy even bother to play Anthony for two minutes?.. C. Pistons. JOEL ANTHONY

D-. At this point, every game is huge for the Pacers. And every one of them amounts to about as much as a Te’o girlfriend for the Pistons. Therefore, I have no interest in whether Van GUndy’s coaching is more or less likely to earn a win. Right now should be a pure data collecting time. Maybe try sitting Drummond for a game or two to see if Jackson is just as good with Greg as with Andre. Defintely stop playing Prince and Butler. Better to give those minutes to any of Miller, Martin, or Williams.. Head Coach. Pistons. STAN VAN GUNDY