Pistons Drop Third Game In A Row In Ugly Fashion

Detroit scored just 31 points in the first half — its lowest output in three seasons. That put them behind the eight ball for the entire game and resulted in Detroit's third loss in a row.

The Pistons shot just 32.7% from the field and no one seemed to be on their game. In fact, it barely looked like the Celtics even tried and they cruised to victory. The nine-point different in final scores makes the game look much, much closer than it actually was. I'm not sure any Celtics even broke a sweat.

Saddiq Bey and Hamidou Diallo led the way for the Pistons with 21 points apiece, but they went just a combined 14-of-34 from the field to hit that mark. Killian Hayes scored 11, mostly in garbage time, and Jerami Grant finished with 10 to close out Detroit's double-figure scorers. The Pistons simply didn't get enough offense out of anybody and really needed more from the entire bench.

Isaiah Stewart was a monster on the glass grabbing 17 rebounds and Diallo also got it done as a rebounder snaring 14. Those are both huge numbers and 14 of them came on the offensive end giving the Pistons some extra opportunities and actually giving them the edge in second-chance points. Even though the Pistons outscored Boston on 19-12 in that category, it wasn't enough over the course of four quarters.

The Pistons are obviously one of the bottom feeders in the NBA this year, but tonight was pretty bad. Detroit was once again without Cade Cunningham, who has proven to be extremely valuable in all areas of the game, but the other regulars had an off night almost across the board. When several guys all have one of those off nights on the same night, we see games play out like we did tonight against the Celtics. The offense was disjointed, the shooting was ice cold and the defense was far too porous. Jayson Tatum, who isn't necessarily considered a rim attacker, had two or three monstrous dunks where he just drove to the rack without any resistance. Those are the kinds of things that will drive a coach crazy.