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A punchless offense stalls Pistons' drive to repeat road win at Charlotte

CHARLOTTE – The Pistons averaged 118 points in rolling to three road wins last week, a trip that began in Charlotte. Should’ve saved a few buckets for their return.

Or a few free throws, at least.

The Pistons scored 41 less than they averaged on that euphoric trek through Charlotte, Boston and Atlanta this time around, shooting 38 percent and losing to the Hornets 87-77 despite holding them to an even ghastlier 34 percent outing.

It was the shots Charlotte took when the Pistons weren’t guarding them – free throws – that defined the outcome.

“I mean, 29 to eight,” Reggie Jackson said, raising his eyebrows and letting his words hang in the air of the Pistons locker room as he looked at the final tally for free throws attempted by each side. “They almost made three times as many free throws as we took. That’s your game, right there.”

He got no argument from his coach. Among Stan Van Gundy’s cardinal rules: keep the opponent off the line.

“We were one of the best in the league at keeping people off the line and now they’re on the line all the time,” he said. “So we’ve got to look at film. We’ve got to cut down on the dumb fouls.”

It was the other number, though – the eight free throws the Pistons attempted – that Van Gundy felt a little helpless to influence.

“We’ve got to keep growing as a team and, also, as you grow as a team and grow in status, maybe, a little bit, the calls start to go your way a little bit more. I thought Tobias (Harris) was doing a pretty good job attacking tonight. Didn’t get to the free-throw line a single time. That one’s a little hard to stomach. But he’s a 24-year-old guy without a big name in the league and that’s a big deal in this league.”

Without any assistance in getting to the line, the Pistons were at a loss offensively – other than Andre Drummond. He was a tour de force with 26 points on 11 of 14 shooting – 4 of 7 at the line, too, taking all but one of his team’s shots – plus 20 rebounds. But the rest of the team shot 30 percent. And it got uglier from the 3-point line where the Pistons hit just 4 of 27. Harris shot 7 of 19, but was 0 of 7 from the 3-point arc. Jon Leuer was 0 of 4. Numerous attempts hit the front rim. Harris had played 40 minutes in Tuesday’s win over Chicago.

“It was tough,” he said. “It was a game where a couple of those shots go down, we could be in this locker room right now with a smile on our faces from a win. That’s the most disappointing thing, but there’s no excuses. If shots don’t fall, get in the gym, get better and get ready for the next game. I don’t like to make many excuses about it. Refs, tired, stuff like that. You’ve got to keep grinding.”

Jackson, in his third game back from injury after missing the season’s first 21 games, simply didn’t have the snap in his body to attack as he usually does, Van Gundy said.

“Trying to get to spots, but found myself not being as fresh as I usually feel while I’m in attack mode,” Jackson said. “Just going to keep being myself and trying to come downhill. Hopefully – not hopefully – I’m sure I’ll get back to being who I am and get accustomed to doing the things I usually do.”

Jackson had only two assists – they came on the last two baskets the Pistons scored before Van Gundy pulled him for Ish Smith with 3:48 to play – and took eight of his 12 shots from the 3-point line, making two, which made him the team’s most prolific and nearly their most efficient 3-point shooter of the night.

Van Gundy had no quibble with their shot selection, nor should he have. If the Pistons could assure themselves 27 3-point shots a game of the same quality they had in Charlotte, they’ll take their chances every time out.

“We had a couple of tough ones at the end of the shot clock, three or four, maybe,” he said. “But I’m going to say we missed 12 to 15 with nobody within 8 feet of us. That’s just the way it went.”

But it was the other line – free throw – that most perplexed him.

“What it came down to was 29 free throws to eight. Just look at the stat sheet. That’s the game. Everything else is pretty even and it’s 29 free-throw attempts to eight. That’s the ballgame.”