Center woes add injury to insult of Detroit Pistons' historic losing streak
The Detroit Pistons entered Wednesday's game at Little Caesars Arena with two centers. They exited with zero.
Already without starting center Jalen Duren and primary backup Marvin Bagley III, the Pistons had no choice but to face the reigning MVP, Joel Embiid, with a thin frontcourt. And then it got worse: Isaiah Stewart, who started alongside rookie Ausar Thompson, was ejected late in the third quarter after getting tangled up with Patrick Beverley. James Wiseman, the remaining center, fouled out early in the fourth.
It’s not the primary reason why the Pistons, who lost their franchise record-tying 21st straight game Wednesday, were unable to prevail over the Philadelphia 76ers. The Pistons were already cooked by the time, with a 24-point deficit, by the time they entered the fourth period with just three made 3-pointers on 20 attempts.
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But it made Joel Embiid — who scored 41 points (30 in the first half) grabbed 11 rebounds and dished out five assists —look even more dominant in just three quarters of action. The Pistons had no answer, and the game was all but over by the time Embiid checked out for good at the end of the third.
“It was hard, but we tried our best,” Wiseman said of defending Embiid.
Wiseman, on the outskirts of the rotation this season before gaining a bigger role in Detroit's past two games thanks to the attrition at center, was honest.
But it’s a bad sign when "our best" concedes a 41-point double-double in just 31 minutes of action.
Detroit’s lack of size will continue to pose an issue as the franchise looks to snap its losing skid, which became the sixth-longest single-season stretch in NBA history Wednesday. The Pistons will face Embiid again in Philadelphia on Friday, followed by a matchup in Milwaukee against Giannis Antetokounmpo and Brook Lopez on Saturday. Perhaps they’ll get Bagley, who has missed their past two games with a back injury, back by then.
But the injuries come at a time where the franchise desperately — desperately — needs a win, with nothing but losses since late October. Detroit hasn’t been fully healthy all season, but Duren’s ongoing ankle soreness, which will keep him out of the rotation for another week at least, has left the Pistons without their best option to deter the NBA’s elite centers.
Of course, the team’s issues go much deeper than their depth (or lack thereof) at center.
The past week has brought two of the Pistons' worst shooting nights of the season; they went 6-for-30 on 3s in Orlando against the Magic last Friday in a 32-point loss, then hit just 10-for-33 in Wednesday's 18-point loss. As the streak gets longer — Old enough to drink? A winning blackjack hand? — it seems as though the team's list of issues grows longer as well.
But with the Pistons' margin for error as thin as it is, and their upcoming opponents as big as they are, there couldn’t be a worse time for a depletion of the team’s big man rotation.
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It made Stewart and Wiseman’s miscues on Wednesday more glaring, certainly: Embiid got both players in early foul trouble, as Stewart picked up two fouls before the midway point of the first quarter, and Wiseman had three fouls at halftime before fouling out with just under 10 minutes remaining in the game. Stewart, with three fouls when he exited with 6.8 seconds left in the third, could have finished the game.
But he was baited by Beverley, a known pest who snuck an elbow in before Stewart retaliated. Stewart’s response —shoving the veteran point guard to the ground during a screen — was what drew the attention of the referees and a seat for the rest of the night with Wiseman at five fouls.
“We have to be smarter in those situations when certain guys are going to do whatever to provoke you,” head coach Monty Williams said. “You gotta be more poised and show a level of experience in that situation. We understand what that’s all about, I’m not going to say names. That part was tough because we were already down a lot of guys. Wiseman was in foul trouble. We can’t afford to lose anybody.”
With each game, the pressure to not make history increases . Detroit’s losing streak, which is already seven games past the franchise's previous worst single-season mark, could tie the NBA’s single-season record of 26 (set by the 2010-11 Cleveland Cavaliers and 2013-14 Sixers) before Christmas.
Their next four opponents after the Bucks on Saturday? A road game against the 9-14 Atlanta Hawks, a home game against the 8-16 Utah Jazz, a road game against the 13-10 Brooklyn Nets and a home rematch against the Nets on Dec. 26.
That's two opportunities, at least, against teams on the wrong side of the playoff line.
But there are no clear winnable games for the Pistons, who lost by 19 in late November to the Washington Wizards (now 3-20) and by 14 in early December to the Memphis Grizzlies (now 6-17) — both at Little Caesars Arena.
Physically, the team will struggle to match up against teams with size. But their biggest hurdle right now is mental.
“It’s human nature: You’re not going to be happy in this situation,” Williams said. “I don’t want anybody to be happy. But you can still have a competitive edge and spirit. I want to see an ornery locker room that’s tired of not just losing, but tired of missing shots, tired of 39 point quarters, things like that. I’m not going to sit here like, ‘we’re still happy.’ Nobody’s happy about this. But we still have a good spirit because we have great guys. They’re trying their tails off and it’s my job to keep that spirit at a good level.’”
Contact Omari Sankofa II at osankofa@freepress.com. Follow him @omarisankofa.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Pistons' injuries at C during skid magnified by upcoming foes
