Photo by Montez Miller/Tell Us Detroit

   

 
 

HOME  I I  HI TECH NEWS  I SPORTS I CONTACT

000

 
 


  Young Core Thrives But Fall in OT, Pelicans defeat Pistons,117-110

Micah Cummings/Sports Writer
Tell Us Detroit

DETROIT - Thirteen days into the New Year and the Detroit Pistons(14-27) are on a roller coaster ride with trade talks surrounding Andre Drummond and injuries continue to pile up. Monday night at Little Caesars Arena, showed once again the ups and downs of the Pistons. The Pistons almost had a victory but fail short to the New Orleans Pelicans(15-26) with a loss in overtime, 117-110.

Pistons were down as many as 16 points in the fourth quarter with 11 minutes left. One of the biggest factors that stood out had to be Drummond sitting out the entire fourth quarter. Pelicans center Jahlil Okafor was in complete control during the matchup against Drummond in the first half. Okafor had 19 points before the start of the third quarter. Derrick Rose gave the Pistons a big boost late. There was 30 seconds left to go to end regulation, when Rose hit a driving floating bank shot to tie the game, 102-102.

Coach Dwane Casey allowed the young core of players to thrive at the end of the game.

“That group that was in there, earned the right to finish the game. Hustle and hard play with the attention to detail in the second half,” said Casey.

“I thought they played with the right purpose and the right sense of urgency, defensively we came back from sixteen down and didn’t turn the ball over. Our young group, Christian Wood, Sekou Doumbouya, and with Rose really competed their behinds off. So thats how we look at, as far as being positive about the situation. The negative is how we first started out the game, we let Okafor have a career night and he dominated us in the first half.”

Okafor scored 25 points (11-21 FG) to go along with a season high 14 rebounds. Lonzo Ball totaled 17 points, 12 rebounds, and nine assists.

Drummond scored 11 points and 10 rebounds, recorded his 33rd double-double on the year.

“I feel like our effort wasn’t there in the first half, we picked it up in the second half but it was still too late,” said Wood. “Coach Casey’s big thing is effort and energy, he wants a set five thats going to play hard and play defense.

Langston Galloway said, “I think going down the stretch they had a lot of offensive rebounds and killed us on the boards tonight. Especially with bigger teams coming into our house, we really need to work on that going forward.”

Galloway elaborated on the advice he told the younger players. “I was trying to motivate those guys and tell them to be appreciative of the moment. I remember when I was in that position, when I was in New York, you might be in there for one or two minutes. But you have to make the most out of the opportunities when you get in the game, because they don’t come around too often. Guys could be here one minute and gone the next plus there’s a lot of teams watching.”

Wood finished with 18 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 blocks.

Doumbouya finished with 16 points and 8 rebounds.

One of the significant missing pieces to the puzzle to the young and future core is Luke Kennard. Kennard is out due to injury because of tendinitis in both knees.

Rose finished with 23 points and team high eight assists, including two turnovers in overtime.

The Pistons look to get a victory Tuesday night, January 14, against the Boston Celtics.





 

 

 

   
 
 

All Rights Reserved   2003-2020 Tell Us USA
Disclaimer  Policy Statement
Site Powered By Tell Us Worldwide Media Company - Detroit, Michigan. USA

 

Web
Analytics Made Easy - StatCounter