The Detroit Pistons (11-16) were unable to take one at home against the Washington Wizards (8-17), losing this one 133-119 at LCA. The Wizards came into this one hungry for a win after losing their previous four games and were able to defeat a depleted Pistons team decimated with injuries. Pistons All-Stars Blake Griffin (knee) and Andre Drummond (eye) were both on the sideline for tonight’s game.
Washington was red hot in the first quarter, scoring 43 points on 17-of-21 shooting from the floor. Wizards’ guard Bradley Beal led the charge, scoring 15 points to go along with six assists in the opening quarter. Washington came into this game fourth in the league in scoring but checked in dead last on defense, a big reason they are currently 12th in the Eastern Conference standings.
Former Pistons guard Ish Smith made a basket in the opening minute of the second quarter to give the Wizards a 45-31 lead over the Pistons. Later in the quarter, a Davis Bertans three-point shot gave the Wizards a 52-38 lead with 9:04 left to play in the second quarter. Late in the second quarter, the Pistons cut the lead to single digits after trailing by as many as 16 points. The Pistons finished the second quarter on a 21-13 run, trailed the Wizards 63-57 heading into the half.
A three-point shot from Tony Snell early in the third quarter cut the Wizards lead to just three, with the Pistons trailing 70-67 with 9:43 left in the third quarter, capping off a 6-0 run by the Pistons. The Wizards were able to hold on the lead through the third, but the Pistons were able to stay with them and finished the quarter down 96-91. Pistons guard Derrick Rose opened the fourth quarter with a driving layup to cut the Wizards lead to three. The Pistons tried to stay with the Wizards but ran out of gas and late in the fourth, the Wizards opened the floodgates, and the Pistons couldn’t keep up anymore. The Wizards went on an 8-1 run late in the fourth and that was enough to put the Pistons away.
For Detroit, Derrick Rose led the way with 22 points to go with eight assists off the bench. Markieff Morris, filling in for Blake Griffin in the starting lineup, finished tonight’s game with 22 points as well. Bruce Brown ended tonight’s game with 20 points while adding six rebounds and three assists.
Bradley Beal led the way for the Washington Wizards. He finished tonight with 35 points and 10 assists. Isaiah Thomas finished tonight’s game with 23 points and six assists for the Wizards.
The Pistons will have tomorrow off before facing the Toronto Raptors in another home game Wednesday night at 7:00 PM.
