The Pistons could not keep up with the Clippers Friday night, losing . The Clippers outscored Blake Griffin and the Pistons 31-15 in the fourth quarter to seal the game and snap the Pistons’ five game winning streak.
The Detroit Pistons (27-27) came up short in the first “Blake Griffin revenge game” against his former team. Lou Williams led the Clippers (28-25) to the win with 26 points and six assists.
Both teams began the game shooting well from the floor, ending the first quarter 31-30 in favor of the Clippers. The Pistons won the second quarter but lost the third by one point before falling apart in the fourth. Reggie Bullock and Blake Griffin tied for a team high 19 points each.
Despite lackluster performances from Griffin’s old squad, the Pistons could not take advantage. DeAndre Jordan had just four points and four assists facing off against the Pistons’ all-star Andre Drummond most of the night. However, Drummond’s struggles were apparent all game long, which stopped him from being a factor in the game early on.
The game was chippy throughout, with many questionable foul and technical foul calls becoming factors down the stretch. Griffin and former Piston, Avery Bradley got tangled up in the first quarter which led to a double technical being called. Two more technicals would be called on DeAndre Jordan and Montrezl Harrell, but it would not be enough to get the Pistons a win.
The Pistons look to get back on track when they travel to Atlanta to take on the Hawks (17-39) Saturday night.
Here are my player grades from Friday night: