Pistons rally late to force OT, fall short in loss to Clippers

105. 77. Final. 103. 64

A. I thought Jackson was the best player on the floor all night, even better than Blake Griffin who was awesome. He kept the Pistons in it early, he made big free throws down the stretch and did a nice job getting guys the ball — it just took a half for shots to start falling. He dropped 34 points, 11 rebounds and 7 assists (on 18 shots) against Chris Paul, who shot 6 of 16. That’s a <em>really</em> good night.. PG. Pistons. REGGIE JACKSON

Pistons. KENTAVIOUS CALDWELL-POPE. B-. He missed a huge free throw late and his shot is still a mess, but the Pistons have played better because he’s been good everywhere else. That’s the biggest difference between KCP now and KCP before — you can rely on him to contribute in other ways and not just streaky shooting.. SG

SF. Pistons. MARCUS MORRIS. D. He’s been uber efficient lately, but tonight was just a bad night offensively. It’s surprising because the Clippers’ wings are pretty bad, but credit Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and Wes Johnson for locking up.

D+. The shot wasn’t falling, he wasn’t a factor on the boards and he had zero chance at defending Griffin. The issue was actually his inability to defend the high pick and pop with Griffin and Paul/Redick. The Clippers went to it every time he was on the floor because Ilyasova was too slow to recover.. PF. Pistons. ERSAN ILYASOVA

The good: Kept DeAndre Jordan in check, rebounded well, made (and missed) some big free throws. The bad: Freelancing on the last defensive play by doubling Blake Griffin 19 feet from the basket without communicating it to anybody else. The play resulted in a wide open 3 for Jamal Crawford because Morris had to rotate down to cover for Drummond on Jordan. It was as stupid a decision as any Pistons player has made late in a game. The act of doubling is worsened by the fact that he didn’t tell anybody. Defense is communication. Drummond failed miserably in the biggest sequence of overtime.. C. Pistons. ANDRE DRUMMOND. C+

D+. The bench was good, but Blake wasn’t particularly good. He had zero assists and three turnovers, but did make a 3-pointer. He is what he is.. PG. Pistons. STEVE BLAKE

SF. Pistons. STANLEY JOHNSON. D. His defense wasn’t bad, but Johnson was overly aggressive and couldn’t finish a number of looks at the rim. He’s too big — and is being defended by too big of defenders — for all of the floaters he shoots. He’s a big wing, built like a legit NBA small forward at 19, but he finishes sometimes like a guard. He needs to improve there, obviously.

B-. Baynes was pretty good tonight. He’s been the most consistent bench player this season and he was as steady as normal tonight. Finishing with 10 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists against some combination of Griffin, Jordan, Josh Smith is impressive.. C. Pistons. ARON BAYNES

G. He played a lot because of Ilyasova’s defense, but when he’s not making 3-pointers he’s so hard to rely on for long stretches. He’s getting some good looks but they just will not drop.. PF. Pistons. ANTHONY TOLLIVER

B-. The Pistons came out slow, but they really rolled in the fourth quarter. I’m a proponent of fouling when you’re up 3 points… Stan Van Gundy is not. The Clippers got a great look, but it came in part because Caldwell-Pope slipped in the corner. Either way, the Pistons kept playing well in overtime, but then the Drummond Debacle happened and then the Pistons missed about 5 chances to win it after Reggie Jackson’s miss… after Doc Rivers fouled him with L.A. up 3. The Pistons are close to taking the step into that second tier in the East, but right now they just make too many mistakes late in games.. Head Coach. Pistons. STAN VAN GUNDY