Four lousy minutes keep Pistons from upset of Lakers

The Pistons lost a game Sunday night the way young teams lose a lot of games – by allowing four or five horrendous minutes to undermine 40-plus very promising ones. Take away a 16-0 run that erupted out of nowhere midway through the fourth quarter and the Pistons were the better team at Staples Center even on a night that LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook put into evidence why their busts will take up residence in the Hall of Fame someday.

“We put our finger in one hole, another opens ups,” Dwane Casey said after Sunday’s 110-106 loss to the Lakers. “We’ve got to continue to learn. Nobody gets a participation award. Close doesn’t count. There’s growth, but we’ve got to be consistent with it.”

The Pistons tied the game at 56 at 9:12 of the third quarter when Cade Cunningham found Jerami Grant with a brilliant pass for a dunk, two of Grant’s 32 points and one of 29 Pistons assists. But the next time the Pistons touched it, Killian Hayes – who returned after missing four games with a thumb injury – committed his only turnover of the game to start a four-minute unraveling.

“We’re still a young team,” Hayes said. “We’re all learning still. Playing against the Lakers, little mistakes like that, you’re going to get punished.”

When the dust settled, the Pistons had committed four of their 17 turnovers over an eight-possession stretch and the Lakers were relentless in punishing them for those miscues – James, Davis and Westbrook especially. When Cunningham ended the run with a driving layup at 4:26 and the Pistons trailing 72-58, the Lakers big three had scored 61 of those 72 points on their way to a combined 82. For the quarter, the Pistons committed six turnovers the Lakers converted into 12 easy points. After committing another turnover on the first possession of the fourth quarter, the Pistons were perfect the rest of the way and cut their deficit to six with nearly six minutes to play.

“We had mental lapses in the third quarter,” Grant said. “We let them get a lead. Other than that, I think we played well.”

Indeed, they did. Other than committing two of his four turnovers during that span, Grant was superb, hitting 11 of 20 shots and 4 of 6 triples, grabbing six rebounds and assisting on four buckets. Cunningham grabbed 11 rebounds and rallied after a slow start for 15 points, but was also responsible for five turnovers. Hayes’ influence was evident mostly in the way he spotted open shooters and helped oil the offense, finishing with eight assists and his usual solid defense. Three players – Frank Jackson (17), Trey Lyles (13) and Hamidou Diallo (10) – were in double figures to spearhead a 42-point outing from the bench.

There was a lot to like, mostly the way the Pistons so seamlessly picked it right back up after the 16-0 run was snapped instead of wilting under the assault by a star-laden team before a crowd that arrived intent on berating the Pistons in the aftermath of last week’s skirmish that ended with suspensions for Isaiah Stewart and James.

“The NBA, you can come back from 20 points down in five minutes. It’s a quick-paced game,” Grant said. “You’ve got to have everybody’s spirits up and it worked out for us coming back in the fourth.”

But those four horrendous minutes count, too, and teams with championship pedigrees know exactly how to milk those stretches to greatest effect. It’s exactly what the Bad Boys and the Goin’ to Work Pistons did in winning the franchise’s three titles, pouncing on bad stretches and turning games their way decisively at the slightest openings.

“We have to take care of the basketball,” Casey said. “So many mistakes we make just by being young and a veteran team will take advantage of it every time. That’s the tough part of rebuilding is learning from mistakes.”

Casey said he huddled with Pistons owner Tom Gores after the game and had the same conversation with him.

“I was just telling Tom, our owner, you’ve got Killian, second year; Cade, first year; Isaiah, second year; Jerami – still young, he’s the elder statesman in the group – and Saddiq (Bey), second year. If we don’t learn from those situations, that’s why we’re going through what we’re going through, is to learn and to build. I see the growth. Unfortunately, it’s not coming in (wins), which hurts.”