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Oklahoma
City
Thunder
end
Pistons
winning
streak,
110-83
By
Abriana
Walton
Tell
Us
Detroit
Sports
DETROIT
-
Oklahoma
City
Thunder
beat the
Detroit
Pistons
in a
dispiriting
game,110-83.
Both
teams
approached
the game
on a
level
playing
field.
The
Detroit
Pistons
came off
of a
seemingly
invigorating
win
against
the
Golden
State
Warriors
defeating
them
111-102
in
overtime,
resulting
in their
5th
back-to-back
win. The
team
entered
this
game
hopeful
to make
it their
6th
consecutive
win.
The
Oklahoma
City
Thunder
were
also
fighting
hard to
maintain
the
teams
winning
streak
from
their
most
recent
124-109
victory
against
the
Atlanta
Hawks.
In that
game
shooting
guard
Alex
Abrines
made
Thunder
history
and a
career
high of
7
3-pointers.
The
momentum
of their
previous
game
carried
over
into to
this
contest
against
the
Pistons.
At
the
beginning
of the
first
quarter
the
competitors
were
neck and
neck and
tied
very
early on
in the
game.
However,
the
Pistons
struggled
to take
the
lead.
They
were
down by
5 points
within
the
first 3
minutes
of the
game.
Oklahoma
City
Thunder’s
85% free
throw
average
helped
them
maintain
their
lead
along
with a
strong
performance
by OKC
center
Steven
Adams
who was
the
teams
top
scorer
and
racked
in a
total of
21
points.
Andre
Drummond
and
Blake
Griffin
both
delivered
fairly
early in
the game
but the
team
still
entered
the
second
quarter
down by
9,
26-17.
The
Pistons
stayed
down by
at least
10
points
the
entire
first
half of
the game
and
never
seemed
to
recover.
Oklahoma
City
Thunder’s
strong
defense
made it
a
challenge
for the
Pistons
top
scorer,
Griffin,
to get
ahead in
the
second
quarter.
Adams
and
Russell
Westbrook
repeatedly
plowed
through
Detroit’s
defensive
line.
They
entered
halftime
Pistons
40, OKC
50.
Oklahoma
City
Thunder
Coach
Billy
Donovan
said
their
defense
really
helped
secure
the win.
“Russell
did a
good job
of
getting
us in
offense
early,”
Donovan
said. “I
felt we
got
ahead of
their
defense
in
transition
and just
played
with
good
intention
and
focus
throughout
the
course
of the
game.”
After
halftime,
dejected
Pistons
fans
began
calling
for more
defense
and
appeared
to have
been let
down my
the end
of the
teams
strong
season
start.
They
started
off the
third
quarter
showing
promise
of a
recovery
with 3
offensive
rebounds.
Donovan
said OKC
lost
their
stride
in the
beginning
of the
4th
quarter
but
eventually
reclaimed
the
game.
“In the
second
half
they
started
to move
around a
little
bit
more.
Drummond
got us
one time
in a
layup
underneath
the
basket,”
Donovan
said.
“But our
guys did
a really
good job
of
covering
for each
other,
they
didn’t
allow
anyone
to get
inside
the
teams
defense.”
The
Pistons
face the
Philadelphia
76er
Friday,
December
7th at
Little
Caesars
Arena.
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