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A change at point guard, but slow starts plague Pistons again in loss at Chicago

CHICAGO – When the Pistons got whipsawed by Cleveland on March 14, the Cavaliers hitting their first 10 3-pointers and 23 of their first 26 shots, it stands to reason that they were properly sheepish about the 32-point loss.

What nobody could have foreseen was that it would send them into what feels like an irreversible tailspin.

From 33-33 going into that game and firmly in playoff position – just eight days ago – the Pistons are now reeling at 34-38 and looking and feeling adrift.

“Ran into a buzzsaw in Cleveland and that’s it,” Stan Van Gundy said after Wednesday’s 117-95 loss to Chicago. “We haven’t bounced back. It’s like we took that one hit and have not recovered at all. Have not played a decent game since then. Mind-boggling to me that six games ago we were playing OK and at .500 and now – not even competitive.”

The loss was doubly damaging in that it plunged the Pistons into a tie with the Bulls but essentially gave Chicago the tiebreaker advantage. With the two teams splitting their season series 2-2, Chicago would win the tiebreaker should it come to that to decide a playoff berth based on its superior record against division opponents, 7-7 to Detroit’s 5-10.

“In an ideal world, win all 10 and I think we end up with the same record as last year,” Reggie Jackson said. “We’ve still got a chance. Just got to come out here and really fight for each other.”

Jackson came off the bench for the first time as Van Gundy, in an effort to inject life into a moribund offense, opted for Ish Smith as the starter. The Pistons did have more juice offensively out of the chute, trading baskets with Chicago early as the lead changed hands seven times in the first seven minutes. But before the 10-minute mark, the Pistons trailed by double digits, 25-13.

“We had good energy on the offensive end, but we didn’t defend,” Van Gundy said. “And it’s the same as every other game. When we broke the lineup, we were behind. Holy cow. I’m wondering if I started the five best players in history if we could have a first-quarter lead.”

The Pistons fell to 3-10 in back-to-back games, a serious shortcoming, and there was no escaping the feeling that Tuesday’s crushing loss – to the 13-56 Brooklyn Nets on a shot at the buzzer – hung over them as this one tipped off and played out.

Even things that the Pistons have been able to rely on this season abandoned them. They allowed Chicago 16 fast-break points in the first half alone and wound up turning the ball over 16 times, well above the 11.8 season average that ranks second in the league.

“We got to the point tonight where even the things that we’ve been able to count on – taking care of the ball, getting back on defense … even in this stretch, our defense has not been that bad. Our offense has really been struggling and then we got off to a little better offensive start tonight and we didn’t guard at all. It’s a really bad stretch here. Probably as frustrating a stretch as we’ve had in the three years I’ve been here.”

For all of their first-half foibles – the 59 points allowed, Chicago’s 34 points in the paint – the Pistons were still within six at halftime as their bench, led by Jon Leuer and Stanley Johnson, helped stall Chicago’s momentum.

But Smith picked up two quick fouls in the third quarter and Chicago opened the half on a 15-2 run to effectively win the game.

“We weren’t converting offensively and they came down and hit their shots. That’s really what it boiled down to,” Andre Drummond said. “It’s a domino effect.”

The dominos have toppled onto the Pistons with increasing force over the past week. With three weeks and 10 games remaining, a team that might be dealing with confidence issues is going to have to start digging themselves out Friday at Orlando.

“Got to brush this one off,” Jackson said. “It’s got to eat at us. It’s got to hurt a little bit. But I think we’re going to look at this one and just get better from it. Hopefully, that’s what we’ve got to do on Friday.”