Pistons vs. Celtics final score: Blake Griffin’s struggles continue as Detroit falls again

The Detroit Pistons after All-Star break looked exactly like the Pistons from before the break, and that is not good at all. The Pistons behind a rough night from Blake Griffin and poor defense up and down the roster fell to the Boston Celtics on Friday 110-98.

The offense was a mess, the defense even worse, and it didn’t seem like head coach Stan Van Gundy changed much of anything during the extended All-Star break. It’s still an iso-heavy offense featuring Griffin surrounded by exactly one shooter in the starting lineup.

Fellow new addition Jameer Nelson continues to run an absolutely listless bench unit that hemorrhages points. In 13 minutes with Nelson on the floor tonight, the Pistons managed a 65.6 offensive rating and a 127.4 defensive rating. That’s right, Nelson managed a -61.9 net rating. For those interested, Langston Galloway received a DNP-CP and Dwight Buycks played two minutes.

But really, it’s all about Griffin. That’s what happens when you trade for a player with one of the largest contracts in NBA history. Griffin was just 5-of-19 with more turnovers (6) than rebounds (4), and he looked absolutely lost on the offensive end. Apart from a couple drives toward the rim he couldn’t find a good look and seemed tentative as he hoped for offensive opportunities to come that never arrived.

On defense, the Pistons were hopeless. They gave up 17 3s and allowed the Celtics to rack up 30 assists on 41 field goals.

Andre Drummond added 15 points and 17 rebounds but was outplayed by Daniel Theis who had 19 points and seven rebounds in 20 minutes of action. The Pistons will look to get back on the right side of the ledger Sunday with a 1 p.m. tipoff against the Charlotte Hornets.