Grading the Detroit Pistons loss to the Brooklyn Nets
By Ryan Love
The Detroit Pistons (3-2) snap their three-game winning streak, falling to the Brooklyn Nets (2-3) 109-101 Wednesday night at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
The Detroit Pistons split their first back-to-back of the season after falling to the Nets 109-101 Wednesday night. The Nets built as large as a 21 point lead after shooting 71 percent from the floor in the first half.
The Pistons mounted an exciting comeback in the second half to pull within four with less than a minute left. However, they could not overcome the big-time performances by Brook Lopez (34 points) and Sean Kilpatrick (24 points).
Here are the grades for the Pistons for Wednesday’s loss:
SG. Detroit Pistons. KENTAVIOUS CALDWELL-POPE. C+. KCP was solid on defense as usual in the second half, but struggled to find his rhythm on offense against the Nets. His 15 points came on a 4-for-15 shooting night from the floor; six of those misses coming from beyond the 3-point line. He was much better in the second half by coming up with timely steals that turned into fast breaks for the Pistons. However, he also had a few too many key misses down the stretch that the Pistons could not overcome.
Detroit Pistons. MARCUS MORRIS. A-. <a rel=. SF
B+. <a rel=. PF. Detroit Pistons. TOBIAS HARRIS
D-. <a rel=. C. Detroit Pistons. ANDRE DRUMMOND
C. Aron Baynes came in for the majority of the second half after playing very few minutes in last night’s game against the Knicks. Van Gundy put Baynes in to replace Andre Drummond who Van Gundy said postgame had no energy to offer to the game. Baynes only scored four points and grabbed four rebounds in 19 minutes, but was the obvious choice over a dejected Drummond.. C. Detroit Pistons. ARON BAYNES
C. <a rel=. PG. Detroit Pistons. ISH SMITH
PF. Detroit Pistons. JON LEUER. B+. <a rel=
C+. <a rel=. PG. Detroit Pistons. BENO UDRIH
C+. Stan Van Gundy was not happy with the Pistons defense the previous night in a win against the Knicks, and therefore was rightfully upset postgame with the defense against the Nets Wednesday night. Van Guny’s defense gave up 71 points in the first half on 71 percent shooting, but they turned that around and forced the Nets to only shoot 38 percent from the floor in the second half. However, Van Gundy criticized his defense as a whole after the game. “We couldn’t guard anybody,” Van Gundy said. He made the right move by replacing Drummond with Baynes in the second half, but at that point it was too late.. Head Coach. Detroit Pistons. STAN VAN GUNDY
The Pistons return to the Palace on Saturday to take on the Denver Nuggets (1-2).