2024-01-12

Detroit Pistons doomed again by late flubs, not injuries in 112-110 loss to Rockets

Omari Sankofa II, Detroit Free Press

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The Detroit Pistons were without their two best players on Friday night, but that wasn’t what cost them a potential fourth win this season.

With Cade Cunningham (knee) and Bojan Bogdanovic (left calf soreness) in street clothes, they fell to the Houston Rockets, 112-110, at home after giving up a 10-3 run in the final minutes of the game. The Pistons led by five, 107-102, with just under 4 minutes to play following a pair of poster dunks by Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren on Alperen Sengun.

The Rockets then scored 10 unanswered points, capped by a 3-pointer and midrange jumper by Fred VanVleet (20 points, 12 assists). The jumper was sandwiched by a pair of turnovers by Ivey and Duren. Ivey also missed a pair of free throws that would’ve extended Detroit’s lead to four with 2:17 left. The missed free throws were followed by VanVleet’s 3, which gave Houston the lead for good.

Isaiah Stewart, returned from an eight-game absence with a right great toe sprain, knocked down a 3-pointer with just under 30 seconds left to cut Detroit’s deficit to two, 112-110. But Ivey’s pull-up 3, a potential game-winner at the buzzer, popped out of the rim, and Duren was unable to grab the rebound or tip it back for a shot at overtime.

Kevin Knox, who started in palace of Bogdanovic, scored 11 of his 19 points in the third quarter and grabbed seven rebounds. Alec Burks added 19 points off of the bench, and Ivey (18 points, eight assists, seven rebounds), Stewart (16 points, seven rebounds) and Duren (15 points, eight rebounds) also scored in double digits. Sengun led all scorers with 29 points, and Jalen Green scored 28.

Despite being without their top scorers, the Pistons had one of their better two-way starts of the season. They finished the first half shooting 57.8% overall and hit seven of their 18 3-point attempts (a 38.9% clip) while holding the Rockets to 42.6% overall and just three makes on 14 3s.

A 21-6 run allowed the Pistons to turn a four-point deficit into an 11-point lead early in the second quarter. But Detroit’s mistakes, per usual, eventually sapped the team of its momentum. They committed six of their 13 turnovers in the second quarter, allowing Houston to tie the game at 55 before halftime despite the efficiency disparity between the two teams.

Hot, then cold

A constant in Detroit’s struggles this season has been not just the team’s tendency to commit excessive mistakes, but also the its inability to overcome said mistakes. That wasn’t the case for stretches on Friday, as the Pistons stormed out of halftime with a 17-6 run for another 11-point lead with 8:03 on the clock. But the Pistons went cold, and Houston whittled the lead down again, outscoring Detroit 12-4 at the end of the quarter to cut it to three, 91-88.

The Rockets’ run continued into the final period, and a pair of free throws by VanVleet extended it to 18-5 to give the Rockets the lead again, 94-92, with 9:10 to play. Detroit took the lead again at the 6:40 mark, and built the margin to five before Houston erased a 107-102 deficit with a late 10-0 run, spearheaded by VanVleet and helped by a pair of late Detroit turnovers.

Mistakes too costly

Three months into the season, it has become easy to predict when momentum will shift against the Pistons. Throughout all of the losing, this team has managed to go blow-for-blow with contending teams and build double-digits leads … and then stumble to the mat, brought down by self-inflicted mistakes.

With 4:47 to play until halftime, a jump hook by Duren gave Detroit its biggest lead of the night, 51-39. The Pistons have a habit of giving up big runs following consecutive turnovers. That, once again, was how the Rockets closed the first half with a 16-4 run.

Knox passed the ball to a Rockets defender instead of Duren, who was rolling to the rim. Then Ivey misplaced a pass to Killian Hayes, who cut to the rim from the left wing. Green scored after both turnovers, finishing a transition layup and a pair of free throws. The Pistons — the NBA’s worst at taking care of the ball — entered halftime with 10 turnovers, off of which Houston scored 14 points.

Detroit, for most of the second half, took care of the ball. The Pistons committed just one turnover until the final two minutes of the game, when consecutive lost balls by Ivey and Duren helped fuel Houston’s late game-winning run.

Despite missing Cunningham and Bogdanovic, the Pistons nearly had the win in hand. Ultimately, the injuries didn’t hurt Detroit’s ability to compete — untimely mistakes were the culprit.