Detroit Pistons lose to Spurs
By Jake De Sane
64. 97. 29. Final. 81
The Detroit Pistons suffer a lopsided loss to the San Antonio Spurs 97-81.
The Detroit Pistons came out strong tonight in San Antonio against the Spurs. Tobias Harris paced their offense throughout the first half and they went into intermission down just one, 52-51. It was all downhill from there. San Antonio came out focused and confident absolutely smothering the Pistons on the defensive side of the ball. The Pistons had no answer for forwards Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge. Leonard imposed his will scoring 27 points and dishing out five assists. Aldridge recorded a double double, tallying 23 points and ten rebounds.
D. Reggie Jackson finished with 11 points on 4 of 12 shooting and just three assists. He struggled to get his shot going all night and as a result the Pistons offense struggled mightily.. PG. Pistons. REGGIE JACKSON
F. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope started out bad and pretty much stayed that way all night. He finished with just three points on 1 of 10 shooting. The lone bright spot of his game was holding Spurs guard Danny Green scoreless.. SG. Pistons. KENTAVIOUS CALDWELL-POPE
C+. Marcus Morris was one of the few Pistons who was effective on the offensive side of the ball. He tallied 16 points on 6/15 shooting. On defense however Morris was overwhelmed by San Antonio star Kawhi Leonard who led all scorers with 27 points.. SF. Pistons. MARCUS MORRIS
C+. One concern heading into tonight’s game was the defensive match up of Tobias Harris on LaMarcus Aldridge, Aldridge had an all around great game finishing with 23 points and 10 rebounds. Harris served as the Piston go-to scorer tonight and was able to provide offense when needed, finishing with 16 points, six rebounds and four assists. Harris was undersized and outmatched on the defensive side of the ball, it will be interesting to see how Stan Van Gundy handles big lineups down the stretch.. PF. Pistons. TOBIAS HARRIS
C. In big games against great teams, a teams best player needs to assert himself and pace his teams performance on both ends of the floor. Drummond found himself in early foul trouble and was simply not aggressive enough on the offensive side of the ball tonight. He only attempted six field goals and uncharacteristically did not register a double double. Andre had nine points and 14 rebounds in just 27 minutes of play.. C. Pistons. ANDRE DRUMMOND
Pistons. ARON BAYNES. B+. Pistons fans are getting used to games like this from Aron Baynes. Baynes had a solid performance in a bad loss against his former employer tonight. He finished with 12 points and six rebounds off the bench.. C
STEVE BLAKE. C. In a game in which the Pistons had 15 turnovers Blake provided sound passing off of the bench and that was about it. He continues to get blown by on defense and is inconsistent with his shot.. PG. Pistons
Darrun Hilliard only saw 12 minutes tonight off of the bench and was one of four shooting making just one three ball.. SG. Pistons. DARRUN HILLIARD II. Inc.
B. Bullock played hard tonight and made both of his field goal attempts. His hustle earns him a grade of a “B” he scrapped down low during his 21 minutes of play. Reggie had seven points and five rebounds. SG. Pistons. REGGIE BULLOCK
STAN VAN GUNDY. C+. Stan Van Gundy did not seem to have an answer for San Antonio’s big men tonight. Defensive match ups seemed to be uneven in the Spurs favor all night and Kawhi Leonard was able to score as he pleased.Coming off of consecutive days off I was hoping Stan Van would have a more solid game plan going into tonight’s game.. Head Coach. Pistons