Three quick observations from Friday night’s 122-108 loss to the Washington Wizards at Verizon Center
SLAM DUNK – The stingy defense that’s keyed the Pistons’ turnaround in road performance? It took a serious hit against a decidedly average offensive team. The Pistons had held opponents to 87 points a game over their last four road games. Washington got to 88 with 3:53 to go – in the third quarter. Their recent defensive play had seen the Pistons rise to No. 2 in NBA defensive rating, holding their last seven opponents under 100 points. The Wizards made it to triple digits with 10:48 to play. The Pistons scored 54 points at halftime – and trailed by 11. Washington scored on its first nine possessions of the second quarter to open a lead, a streak that was snapped only when John Wall missed two free throws. But the Pistons kept sending Washington to the line for more chances, a total of 18 in the first half alone and 27 for the game. Washington came into the game ranked nearly identically to the Pistons in 3-point shooting – 28th in attempts (21.8 per game) to Detroit’s 29th (20.9) and 15th in percentage (35.1) to Detroit’s 18th (34.5). Washington hit 7 of 13 in the first half alone. The Wizards are a middle-of-the-pack offensive team, ranked 15th in offensive efficiency. They looked several cuts above average against the Pistons, shooting 58 percent overall and 48 from the 3-point line. The last time the Pistons were here, it resulted in a 124-81 loss in March that left Stan Van Gundy seething. This didn’t reach those depths, but only because the Pistons were better on the offensive side than they were that night. The defense was another story.
FREE THROW – No secret what the key is to beating Washington: make somebody else besides John Wall and Bradley Beal beat you. The Pistons couldn’t slow them down even a little bit. Wall and Beal combined for 35 points in the first half and had 50 through three quarters. It looked like they’d get the rest of the night off, but Scott Brooks rushed them back into the game with 4:38 left when Pistons reserves sliced a 24-point deficit to 16. Beal finished with 25, Wall with 29. Wall, a 34 percent 3-point shooter who’d made a little more than one a game (28 for the season) before Friday, was a perfect 4 for 4. He had one of those nights, banking in a long 2-point shot late in the third quarter. Wall averages 24.0 points a game this season, Beal 21.8. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope – from the same high school class as Beal and familiar with him from the AAU circuit and one overlapping season in the SEC, Beal at Florida and Caldwell-Pope at Georgia – led the Pistons with 24 points and added six rebounds. Reggie Jackson had 14 points in 25 minutes as he continues to work his way back from the knee injury that cost him all of preseason and the first 21 games of the regular season. Andre Drummond had 13 points and 12 rebounds.
3-POINTER – Washington’s Markieff Morris, twin brother of Marcus Morris, was back in Washington’s starting lineup after missing Wednesday’s win over Charlotte with a calf injury. They’re not identical twins and they don’t have identical games – but they’re pretty darn close. Markieff is more a true power forward and Marcus, very slightly smaller and a little more athletic, better able to play either forward spot though most of his time with the Pistons has been spent at small forward. So they didn’t match up much in Friday’s game and neither had much of an impact on the game, especially in the first half. Marcus played 15 first-half minutes but went scoreless, missing five shots and registering a single rebound and assist and finished with just two points on 1 of 8 shooting. Markieff was limited to six first-half minutes by foul trouble and finished with 11 points in 19 minutes. “They’ve got a lot of similarities, particularly in their post game,” Stan Van Gundy said. “They’ve got similar moves, approaches down low. Marcus plays a little more on the perimeter for us than Markieff does for them, but I think their games are fairly similar. Marcus has hit a really good situation for us and he’s not in anybody shadow any more. I think that’s been good for him.” The brothers had one interaction, though – Markieff blocked Marcus’ transition layup attempt, sending him tumbling to the floor. They shared a smile as Markieff helped him to the floor.
