Auburn Hills, MI – The Detroit Pistons continued with the theme of defensive struggles on their home court, losing to the visiting Los Angeles Clippers, 112-103 on Monday at the Palace of Auburn Hills.
Rodney Stuckey led the Pistons with 29 points and Josh Smith added 24 to go with six assists and six rebounds. Andre Drummond had 15 points and a team-high 11 rebounds, but the Pistons received little help from their starting backcourt: Brandon Jennings finished 0-for-7 from the field and finished scoreless for only the second time in 330 career games, while Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had just six points.
Jamal Crawford led the Clippers with 26 points on an impressive 9-for-13 shooting from the field including 3-for-5 from 3-point range. The former Michigan Wolverine knocked down a 3-pointer with 55 seconds left to give Los Angeles a 110-98 lead and effectively put the dagger in Detroit. Blake Griffin scored 25 for Los Angeles and J.J. Redick added 20 points and six assists. DeAndre Jordan had 16 points and a game-high 21 rebounds.
Jordan dunked four times in just the first quarter. The Clippers shot 66 percent from the field in the first half and led 64-53 at halftime.
“That’s the way they play. They pound the ball inside, and they are always looking for the lob,” Pistons coach Maurice Cheeks said. “They don’t usually get as many of them as they did tonight, but that’s what they do.”
The Clippers shot 62.2 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from 3-point range for the game.
“We didn’t put up a resistance,” Smith said. “They had transition 3s, open looks at 3s and they were getting layups in transition and throwing lobs and we just let them have everything. I don’t know what happened.”
The Pistons fall to 17-24 on the season and 7-14 at home. The loss is Detroit’s eighth in the team’s last 10 home games. The Pistons travel to Milwaukee on Wednesday and return home to host New Orleans on Friday. Los Angeles, now 29-14, hosts Charlotte on Wednesday and travels to Chicago on Friday.
