Pistons vs. Pacers final score: Backcourt and defense go missing in Indy, fall 115-98

On a night with potential seeding implications, the Pistons guards and defense didn’t show up, as Detroit gets another nationally televised blowout loss added to the resume to the tune of 115-98.

The Pistons couldn’t stop the Pacers for most of the first half, even when they somehow managed to trick Paul George into not scoring a point in the second quarter. After a good defensive stretch early in the third quarter, Andre Drummond was cleaning offensive glass and suddenly the Pistons were up one.

Then Indiana (and more importantly Paul George) woke up. The Pacers went on to close the quarter with a 28-10 run, and the Pistons never recovered. With eight minutes left in the fourth, Monta Ellis decided to put it out of reach stretching the lead with timely three pointers and here I am writing the quick recap while Boban shots free-throws with two minutes and change left. The #StartWriting lifestyle is real.

Outside of the nonexistent defense, the Piston guards were also nonexistent, with Reggie, KCP, and Ish combining for a grand total of 10 points, going 3-18 from the floor. Not exactly a winning recipe.

Let’s no go all doom and gloom. There were some bright spots to spin.

• Tobias Harris was a one man show on offense in the first half, dropping an impressive 18 points before halftime. A semi-highlight-ish dunk on Myles Turner in the second quarter led to a pretty hard fall and his offense seemed to go missing after that, as he only finished with 22 points for the game.
• Stanley Johnson continued his solid play, posting a season high 17 points and 5 boards to boot. Half of those points came in some garbage time fourth quarter minutes, but this is the spin zone of a blowout loss so cut me some slack.
• There was a moment where Andre Drummond had 13 points and 14 rebounds in 22 minutes of action. He was active on the offensive and defensive end for a good stretch, and then suddenly he was lost and Indy smelled blood in the water.
• At least the over hit.
• Boban? (Nope, Al Jefferson’s AARP card took him to school.)
• The Chicago Bulls lost.

The Pistons are back at the Palace tomorrow night against the Cleveland Cavaliers which is awesome because we’re super good on back to backs. I’ll be in attendance and am already terrified of witnessing a blowout. Send help.

Now onto your comments.