Detroit Pistons: 3 takeaways from late collapse vs. the Pacers

The Detroit Pistons managed to find a way to pry defeat from the jaws of victory with a late collapse against the Indiana Pacers.

The Pistons were up with just over four minutes left to play before Indiana went on a 12-0 run that was assisted by some shoddy Pistons’ ball handling (more on that later).

It was an up and down game in which both teams exchanged big quarters only to give their lead back in the next one.

Dwane Casey tightened his rotation to just ten players which meant several of the young Pistons didn’t see any action in a game Casey was clearly trying to win.

That’s his job and I don’t blame him for doing it but with the Pistons barely clinging to the third-worst record in the NBA, it was a good time to get a loss. With the Timberwolves winning last night, the Pistons are now just one game away from the second-worst record, though it doesn’t come with any better odds in the draft lottery.

There is only one game separating Detroit from Orlando and just 1.5 between them and OKC after the Thunder have tanked their way into 13 straight losses while running with a team that wouldn’t win in the G-League.

It was a good loss for the tank and had some positives, but there were also some problems that point to season long trends.

Detroit Pistons: The Pistons dominated the boards

The Detroit Pistons were able to build a lead behind an absolutely dominant performance on the boards.

With both Domantas Sabonis and Myles Turner out, this was to be expected but three Pistons got into double-digits in rebounds and Mason Plumlee had a career-high 21 to lead both teams.

Saddiq Bey added 10 and Hamidou Diallo grabbed 11 off the bench for Detroit, who won the rebounding battle 62-39, including 15 offensive rebounds that helped offset the Pistons’ terrible shooting.

Until the Pistons find some better shooters, crashing the offensive glass will give them extra opportunities and make up for all of the bricks they throw up from 3-point range.