Three quick observations from Friday night’s 121-109 loss to the San Antonio Spurs at AT&T Center
NO SPARK – The Pistons and Spurs came into Friday’s meeting ranked 29th and 30th in the NBA in defense and an ol’ fashioned shootout appeared to be in the offing. It didn’t quite turn out that way, though, with both teams held to 20 points in the second quarter. When the scoring turned up in the second half, it was as much about turnovers for both teams creating scoring chances the other way. After the Pistons scored 121 points to knock off the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors – handing them only their third home loss of the season – on Wednesday night, the Pistons scored just 48 points in the first half and were at 76 after three quarters when they looked a lot like a team playing the last of a five-game road trip Friday on the south central Texas plains. Pistons turnovers and fouls fueled a 10-0 San Antonio run that broke a 65-all tie midway through the third quarter that saw the Pistons commit seven turnovers and 10 fouls. The Spurs cracked the door for them in the fourth quarter with consecutive turnovers that led to layups that allowed the Pistons to pull within five points, but the Spurs stretched it back to 12 points quickly and the Pistons simply didn’t have a finishing kick left in them. Killian Hayes had the kind of night that symbolized the night for the Pistons. He finished with 18 points, seven assists and five steals but – one game after he finished with 13 assists and zero turnovers in his return from a three-game suspension – Hayes had five of Detroit’s 16 turnovers, all 16 coming in the first three quarters. San Antonio finished with 17 turnovers for 23 Pistons points.
NOT THEIR NIGHT – It was a rare quiet night for the Pistons bench, which came into the game No. 1 in scoring since Nov. 18 at 48.6 points a game. After shortening the rotation to essentially eight on Wednesday night at Golden State, Dwane Casey went back to a full five-man second unit though he staggered minutes more than usual to keep a starter out on the floor pretty much all of the time. Cory Joseph, who didn’t play in Wednesday’s 121-118 win at Golden State, was off the bench along with Saddiq Bey just four minutes into Friday’s game. Joseph and Bey entering for Killian Hayes and Isaiah Stewart accomplished a few things for Casey: It gave Jaden Ivey another ballhandler alongside of him instead of putting the onus of being the primary playmaker so squarely on the rookie’s shoulders; and getting Stewart out so early allowed Casey to get away without needing to go to Nerlens Noel. Since losing Marvin Bagley III in Monday’s game at Portland to a hand injury – one the Pistons announced required surgery and will keep Bagley out a minimum of six weeks – Casey has remained committed to starting Stewart and rookie Jalen Duren but they can’t play as many minutes together. Casey’s bench finished with 28 points on Friday after scoring only 12 in the first half. Alec Burks, so critical to the revival of Detroit’s bench, cooled off with a 3 of 10 shooting night, scoring nine points. Bey, Wednesday’s hero, finished with 10 points.
ROAD TRIPPIN’ – The Pistons wrapped up their longest remaining road trip and their second-longest of the season with a 2-3 record – and there were telltale signs of a road-weary team at various points of Friday’s game. After losing to Chicago to start the trip, the Pistons went 2-2 against four Western Conference opponents to end it and they’re now 7-13 vs. Western teams compared to 4-18 against Eastern Conference teams. The Pistons are finished playing in the Pacific and Mountain time zones for the season. They only have three more road games against Western Conference teams, in fact: Dallas on Jan. 30, Oklahoma City on March 29 and Houston on March 31. That will come on the season’s longest remaining road trip, a three-game trek that wraps up with an April 2 game at Orlando. The Pistons play three consecutive road games in mid-February at Toronto, Boston and Orlando but it’s separated by the All-Star break which starts after the Feb. 15 game at Boston and resumes Feb. 23 at Orlando. The Pistons went 2-4 on the season’s longest road, winning a back-to-back set at Denver and Utah while losing to the Clippers, Lakers, Kings and Suns.