The Detroit Pistons thrashed New Orleans on the Pelicans’ home floor on Monday. New Orleans will get a quick chance to atone for that embarrassing defeat when it visits Detroit on Sunday afternoon.
Detroit led by 22 points by the end of the first quarter and 31 at halftime en route to a 127-81 romp. The Pelicans were held to 32.6 percent shooting and committed 17 turnovers.
They also lost forward Trey Murphy to a season-ending shoulder injury when he got tangled up with Pistons forward Ausar Thompson.
“We looked like a team that forgot how to play basketball,” Pelicans coach Willie Green said after his team tied for the franchise record for its most lopsided regular-season loss.
New Orleans bounced back from that debacle by defeating Minnesota 119-115 on Wednesday. The Pelicans played the Timberwolves once again in Minneapolis on Friday and the outcome was completely different. Minnesota dismantled the Pelicans, 134-93.
Zion Williamson suffered a lower back contusion in Wednesday’s contest and was unavailable to play in the rematch. Williamson had 29 points, eight assists and five rebounds in the victory.
“(Friday) was more about us just being careless, being mindless,” Green said. “We know we can be better. In order to give ourselves a chance to win these games, our guys know we have to take care of the basketball. We didn’t do a good job of that.”
Overall, the Pelicans have lost eight of their past 10 games and are just looking to put this lost season behind them.
The Pistons are sitting sixth in the Eastern Conference standings and trying to pass Indiana and Milwaukee for the fourth spot. That would give them home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
They didn’t help themselves by losing to the injury-riddled Dallas Mavericks 123-117 on Friday. Dallas led 35-27 after the first quarter and the Pistons spent the rest of the night futilely trying to make up the deficit.
“We just didn’t do the job defensively that we’re capable of, and that’s what it came down to,” coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “To start the game, that first quarter their ball was just loose and they got to the paint. It allowed too many triggers. We were giving up shots at the rim and offensive rebounds because our bigs had to help.”
As usual, All-Star Cade Cunningham led the Pistons with 35 points, seven rebounds and six assists. However, Detroit was unable to speed up the tempo to its liking. The Pistons were held to six fast-break points.
“They did a pretty good job defending us in terms of transition,” reserve center Isaiah Stewart said. “We know defensively we love to use our defense to lead into transition buckets. We didn’t do that (Friday) and that hurt us as well.”
Starting wing Tim Hardaway Jr. didn’t play in the second half due to a right ankle sprain. His status for the Pistons’ three-game homestand is uncertain. They’ll also host San Antonio on Tuesday and Eastern Conference-leading Cleveland on Friday.
–Field Level Media
