Pistons wilt, Greg Monroe feasts as Detroit falls to Bucks

The best thing you could say about Detroit's embarrassing 109-88 beatdown at the hands of the Milwaukee Bucks is that it was sort of fun seeing Greg Monroe beast on his old team.

The game was close for about a quarter and a half but there were signs of trouble almost instantly. Milwaukee's beleaguered point guard Michael Carter-Williams was hitting shots, getting into the lane at will and dishing assists like his coach Jason Kidd used to. Milwaukee, the league's worst rebounding team was doubling up Detroit on the boards.

Then the wheels really came off. Detroit cut the lead to 47-45 with 2:40 left in the second quarter when Andre Drummond and Ersan Ilyasova combined for six rebounds and a final Dre tip-in. From there, Milwaukee blitzed Detroit with Greg Monroe eating Drummond's lunch in the low post and Milwaukee sinking everything from the perimeter.

The game started to get away from Detroit not just because of a poor defensive effort, but because the offense was in shambles. Flow was nonexistent and any semblance of a game plan was not apparent. Detroit role players were puzzlingly passive all game long, and eventually that led to Reggie Jackson and even Andre Drummond forcing offense. Unsurprisingly, it didn't work.

Milwaukee took a 10-point lead into halftime and despite heavy minutes from Detroit's starters in the third, the lead ballooned to 24. The starters strolled off the floor for the last time with 90 seconds to go in the third and the game all but decided.

Detroit shot a woeful 34 percent as a team while allowing Milwaukee to shoot 51.8 percent, including 69.2 percent from 3.

The Pistons were led by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope with 17 points. Drummond added 15 points and 15 rebounds.

Monroe had 20 points and 13 rebounds in his revenge game against his former team while six other Bucks scored in double figures.

This team is confounding because it walks a razor's edge where if any little piece malfunctions then everything starts breaking down and there are no players who can settle down the offense. There is no rhyme or reason to nights when they'll beat great teams or when they'll put up a stinker to a struggling team like tonight.

Come back, Brandon Jennings. Come back, Jodie Meeks. Trade for Anthony Morrow, Stan Van Gundy.