For the Pistons, tonight was going to need a complete game from every man in the rotation for 48 minutes. That wasn’t what happened and it resulted in another loss for Detroit in Mexico City.
The game started out hopeful though; Detroit came out of the gates hot and earned themselves a quick 7 point lead at 9-2 with 9:46 to go in the first. The entirety of the first half quickly became a duel between Luka Doncic and Andre Drummond midway through the second as the two were seemingly trading buckets for their respective teams every possession. Drummond had 20 points midway through the second quarter and Detroit trailed by only three, 48-51, with 5:27 remaining in the half. Seth Curry for Dallas then decided to not miss a shot along with Luka, which helped extend the Mavericks lead to seven by halftime, 65-58.
Detroit, although they trailed by seven at half, had played an overall solid first half of basketball. They had some momentum heading into the locker rooms, and were in a good spot to possibly come out of the night with a win, however, they didn’t seem to get the cue when the third quarter started and five minutes into the second half they had only had five points to show for their ‘efforts’; they trailed by 17, 80-63. The same trend continued up to the four minute mark in the third, when the Pistons had only eight points for the half so far, and trailed by 24, 90-66. Past this point in the game, it was any other Pistons game when the team was trying to fight their way back into the contest. They make it seem like the comeback is possible for just a second, which came early in the fourth quarter; 9:43 to go and Markieff Morris comes up with a disappointing 1/3 clip from the foul line to cut the deficit to 10. Then, they lose their momentum; Dallas goes on a quick 11-2 run with about 7 minutes left in regulation to extend their lead back up to 19, 109-90, and the Pistons once again come up short in the end. It seems scripted as much as it happens, tonight being just another example.
Luka, and the Mavs teams as a whole, were allowed to do whatever they wanted all night. Luka ended the game with 41 points, and the Pistons were once again embarrassed on a big stage. Blake didn’t have it going, Luke couldn’t really get his shot going, and the Pistons as a whole just weren’t able to click as a unit when they needed to most. Maybe the focus isn’t there, or the team simply isn’t executing, but something has to give with this group if they truly want to be successful.
Pistons drop another disappointing game, this time to the Mavericks of Dallas in Mexico City, 122-111. Andre Drummond was the Pistons leading scorer with 23 points along with 15 boards. The team’s next appearance will be in Houston to face the Rockets, Saturday December 14.
Piston Territory 