The Detroit Pistons found themselves on the losing end of yet another game, having now lost seven of their last nine games.
In what has more or less become a reoccurring theme for the Detroit Pistons in the last two seasons, the third quarter was the main factor in tonight’s loss.
A quarter where the Pistons were outscored 19-10, and shot just 3 for 24 from the field. Near the end of the quarter, Detroit went nearly seven minutes without a made field goal. The Grizzlies shared similar struggles, but they were able to capitalize on the Pistons turmoil.
The Grizzlies went on a 19-5 scoring run spanning the end of the second quarter and the beginning of the third. The Pistons could never seem to establish a rhythm along the perimeter and it helped contribute to their demise.
Detroit throughout the season has been finding themselves in rough positions with so many injuries. Tonight was arguably their worst. They played just an 8-man rotation which is the shortest they have utilized all season.
Taking that into account, along with the fact that Detroit was on the second night of a back to back (yesterday’s game also went to overtime) it’s safe to say that they ran out of gas a lot sooner than anticipated.
Coming into the night, the Pistons had a record of 1-7 when playing the second game on a back to back. Again, this metric can be traced back to the lack of depth Detroit is frequently faced with.