Detroit Pistons: 3 takeaways from a promising loss to the Celtics

The Detroit Pistons’ bench play

I thought the Pistons’ bench would be an advantage in this one, as Boston is not deep, and only played eight guys last night.

Even though they only went three deep, the Celtics’ bench outscored the Pistons, led by Payton Pritchard, who had 19 points and really turned the momentum of the game in the second half.

This was a night when the Pistons needed contributions from Hamidou Diallo and Kelly Olynyk, but the duo scored just nine points between them and Diallo added three turnovers in just 11 minutes.

The bench had seven of Detroit’s 14 turnovers even though no one played more than 20 minutes, so this was not a banner night for the Pistons’ reserves.

The Detroit Pistons were still missing Frank Jackson whose shooting will be a welcome addition when he returns from his back issues.

I still think this bench unit can be a weapon and win the Pistons some games, but last night they were beaten by three guys. On a positive note, MBIII put up another efficient game off the bench, caught a lob in transition and gave the Pistons a big man presence they’ve been missing all year.

He did leave the game late with an ankle injury, which is something to keep an eye on, as he has been plagued by nagging injuries for most of his career.