The Detroit Pistons have lost their seventh straight game after falling to the Oklahoma City Thunder 121-108.
For much of the night, the Detroit Pistons were lifeless but received a short spark after the Oklahoma City Thunder’s starting shooting guard, Andre Roberson, went down with a horrific leg injury.
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Roberson was attempting to finish an alley-oop pass from Russell Westbrook when his left leg appeared to give out, resulting in an extremely awkward landing.
He was stretchered to the locker room and for the next five minutes, the Thunder were clearly rattled as the Pistons put together their best offensive run of the game.
Despite the short burst, the Thunder were able to regain composure and come away with a 13-point win.
The Pistons struggled to guard the Thunder’s big three from the opening tip, with Paul George exploding for 16 points in the first quarter.
This early explosion was a key part of setting up the Thunder to end the first half with 69 points and a 12-point lead.
George would finish the night with 26 points and 3 steals.
Westbrook was at his usual best, posting 31 points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists on his way to yet another triple-double.
The lone bright spark for the Pistons was their strong contributions off the bench.
The reserves contributed 64 points, a season-high for the team.
Ish Smith (15 points, 9 assists), Luke Kennard (11 points), Reggie Bullock (16 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists), Boban Marjanovic (14 points, 8 rebounds) and Anthony Tolliver (8 points, 5 rebounds) were crucial in giving the team a slight hint of life in the second half.
Marjanovic, in particular, was a handful for the Thunder with both Steven Adams and Patrick Patterson unable to do much when defending him under the basket.
That Andre to Avery assist though. #PistonsNow pic.twitter.com/S9YtzMP83N
— Detroit Pistons (@DetroitPistons) January 27, 2018
The bench unit managed to trim the deficit back to single-digits but ultimately the Thunder’s starters wrestled back control down the stretch.
While the bench thrived the starters were nothing short of horrendous.
Tobias Harris had a slight return to form as he put up 21 points, but the other four starters had quiet nights.
After his monstrous effort against the Utah Jazz, Andre Drummond finished with 12 points and 13 rebounds.
Langston Galloway, Avery Bradley and Stanley Johnson combined for just 11 points and 4 of 13 shooting from the field.
The Pistons currently find themselves in a tailspin and it might get a lot worse before it gets better.
Their next two games are against the Cleveland Cavaliers, which could potentially be another two losses.
Detroit is losing touch with the playoff race and some dramatic changes are going to need to happen if they’re going to right this ship.