Blake Griffin, Detroit Pistons come up short against Bucks

The Detroit Pistons dug a hole they could not climb out of in the first half and lost the seventh game of their last eight in a contest against the Bucks.

The Detroit Pistons made things look interesting by the beginning of the fourth quarter with players taking turn hitting three-point shots.

Unfortunately for Motown, the Milwaukee Bucks still walked away from Little Caeser’s Arena with another victory under their belt as they hand the Pistons their seventh loss in nine games, 107-104.

What went wrong

Detroit lost this game in the first half. That’s hard to say in sports, especially in the NBA.

Anything can happen at any given moment. However, it was the hole the Detroit Pistons needed to dig themselves out of that may have sealed their fate.

Good teams are not going to keep the door open too long for a comeback and the Pistons need to understand that against a team like the Bucks.

Early in the game, during a dry spell for Milwaukee, Detroit hit a similar wall but for different reasons. It was interesting to see the Pistons only down four with just under five minutes left in the first half, although Blake Griffin had as many points as turnovers (three points, three turnovers).

The Bucks’ defended him as every other team in the league will and that is by throwing two, sometimes three bodies at him and force the Detroit Pistons shooters to score.

Scoring is hard to do when the shots will not fall. That seemed to be the problem for Detroit after a pretty close beginning to the first half.

Deep into the third quarter, the Pistons had almost given the Bucks the game. A late rally brought them back into the fold, but it was too little. The Detroit Pistons did not play good enough defense to stall the Milwaukee Bucks as they put together an impressive comeback. But, it was one just short of a victory.

Andre Drummond was a non-factor this game. He shot 4-of-12 from the field and looked bothered by the length of the defense.

He struggled to make good looks and gave zero relief to a Pistons’ offense that appeared stifled in the earlier parts of the game.

The Detroit Pistons are only as good as their engine and that is Blake Griffin. Stanley Johnson scored 16 of his points in the fourth quarter, eventually ending the game with 20 points on 8-of-14 shooting, 4-of-7 from three-point land. Reggie Bullock’s team-high 24 points helped create an opportunity that they just could not capitalize off of.

That is almost directly because even in distress, Griffin could not find ways to help the team win.

Rarely can Griffin ever be credited with blame in a loss. Against the Milwaukee Bucks, the point forward seemed to hold on to the ball too long, welcoming contested shots and bad passes in congested lanes.

The Bucks’ defense settled around him and caught him in a rare and unprepared space. Late misses and a costly foul only compounded Griffin’s imprint on the game for worse.

It was another game that slipped through the Detroit Pistons’ fingers. It showed the potential of Stanley Johnson. It gave a glimpse of what the team expects from Reggie Bullock.

But, it was another loss on the season. Another loss when the Detroit Pistons desperately need to settle into a winning identity before things begin to snowball.