Game Recap/Notes: Game #36. Pistons 131 - Clippers 142. (8-28)
Pain. The Pistons got a good 3rd quarter after initially falling behind and were up by like 13 with a couple of minutes left, the Clippers put in the bench to prep for a back-to-back tomorrow and the Pistons blew it. I don’t know where we can rank this in terms of awful losses given that it’s hard to put it on par with some others given that the team is going nowhere anyways, but this was still awful.
Killian Hayes:
Overall a positive night for Hayes who finished with 18 points on 6-17 shooting, with 5 rebounds and 10 assists on the night. The trouble is that he went just 2-10 inside the arc and made several bad plays in the awful stretch at the end of the game including getting his pocket straight picked by Paul George. It shouldn’t take away from the fact that his play was a big reason that the Pistons had seemed to wrap the game up but he still had a tough finish to the game. In the end I guess its just a mixed bag here but it still counts as progress for Hayes that he had 18 points and 10 assists and we are kind of disappointed still.
Jaden Ivey:
15 points on 4-11 shooting (5-6 from the line) along with 8 assists marks a solid game for Ivey. Would still prefer him to get more shots up and generally be more aggressive, had a couple of brutally bad defensive possessions, but still a good game overall. Had one play in particular where he beat his guy clean off the dribble to finish a layup which is a good reminder of why he’s such a valued asset. Lots to put together but those plays are what separates him.
Bojan Bogdanovic:
Decent game but not efficient. 23 points needed 7-20 shooting from the field along with 8-9 from the charity stripe (that’s 23 points on 24 equivalents). He also had 5 turnovers to further the poor efficiency. The biggest issue ended up being a total inability to slow down Paul George which…. you can’t get too hard on Bojan about that but still. The Clippers initially pulled out to a 3rd quarter lead largely by repeatedly attacking Bojan. He still mostly did what is asked of him and was the teams leading scorer, but it wasn’t good enough tonight.
Isaiah Stewart:
One of his better games of the season. 21 points on 8-10 shooting with 7 boards, didn’t just hit a few threes either, and even had a couple of nice pumps and goes. This game represents the upside of his offensive potential. Still not creating things but a guy who can finish plays if the defense gives him space to do so. Defensively he joins in a team-wide effort that was very poor.
Jalen Duren:
Continues to separate himself as the team's best big. 15 points on 7-11 shooting with 12 boards, a pair of assists, a steal, and a block in 39 minutes of work. In particular he did excellent work when the Clippers rode without a center when Zubac hit the bench. Still areas to improve upon but Duren shows all signs of being on a pretty remarkable trajectory.
Saddiq Bey:
13 points and 4 rebounds isn’t awful and he was a team-high +17 but hard to feel like he’s pulled himself from the rut. He went 4-12 to get those 13 points and played 26 minutes and was mostly buoyed by a few quick threes. So while this was a decent night, I don’t feel like we are any closer to him figuring how to get his game right.
Alec Burks:
Played 28 minutes, did his deal. 14 points on 3-11 shooting with 5-6 at the line, which isn’t as efficient as we’d like but he did tack on 5 assists as a nice bonus on the night.
Kevin Knox:
Only played 7 minutes, didn’t do anything notable.
Hamidou Diallo:
Making a cameo back in the rotation and didn’t disappoint. 12 points on 5-7 shooting, still awful defensively and still doesn’t provide any spacing. But he also still shows an ability scoring around the hoop that makes you think he has to be a worthwhile player.
General:
Awful. Awful game. I’m not wanting to pin it on anyone directly because it was pretty much a team-effort in failure. Not much else to say, I’m so sad about this game. It looked like it’d be a great morale win to beat a good team with a great team performance to get the bad taste of a losing streak out but now it is the worst bit of a bad stretch.