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Pistons vs Cavs final score: Turnovers doom Detroit, 122-107

Detroit played one of their sloppier games of the season.

NBA: Detroit Pistons at Cleveland Cavaliers Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

The Detroit Pistons coughed the ball up 22 times and the Cleveland Cavaliers pulled away in the second half to send Detroit home with a league-worst 4-14 record.

The biggest culprit of coughing it up was Mason Plumlee who turned it over eight times against the quick hands of Andre Drummond.

The Drummond Experience was in full effect tonight: the good, the bad, and the confusing. He ended with 23 points on 24 shots while adding 16 rebounds, five steals, and two assists. There were the usually mystifying offensive possessions from Andre, but his activity defensively really gave Detroit fits.

While the most turnovers came via the starting center, the team looked especially poor when backup point guard Derrick Rose was running the show. Rose finished with 13 points on 10 shots, but the offense never seemed to flow with him in the game. And Detroit was 28 points worse with him on the floor as a result.

Sharing the floor with Rose for much of the game was Sekou Doumbouya. Though the Pistons were -13 with Sekou on the court, little of that had to do with his play. The second-year forward played one of his best games of the season. He was active defensively, strong on the boards, and a positive force offensively because of his off-ball movement.

Sekou was one of the few Pistons who really had things going against Cleveland, though. The Cavaliers got very good games from role players like Taurean Prince, Jarrett Allen and Dylan Windler. And that, at the end of the night, was the major difference.

Some stray thoughts:

  • Isaiah Stewart struggled a lot, especially offensively, and Jahlil Okafor got his second-half shift. There’s a bit of a trend there. It might be good for Stewart to take a step back, watch some more film, and re-assess.
  • Mason Plumlee has similarly struggled recently. It would be nice to see some Sekou at the 5 minutes.
  • The Pistons were led by Jerami Grant who scored an efficient 26 points and got the free-throw line 10 times (sinking all 10).
  • Wayne Ellington continues to be en fuego. He was 4-of-8 from 3 and finished with 17 points.
  • The Cleveland backcourt is as fun as advertised.