Pistons lack fight in blowout loss to Wembanyama, Spurs
It’s been a historically bad season for the Detroit Pistons. On Wednesday, they finally faced one of the few NBA teams that can relate.
The Pistons and San Antonio Spurs are the worst teams in each conference, and entered Wednesday’s game at the bottom of the NBA’s net rating (which accounts for, on average, how many points you score versus how many points you allow per 100 possessions) — the Pistons at minus-11.1, and the Spurs at minus-11.2.
But San Antonio had its No. 1 pick dressed to play as French rookie phenom Victor Wembanyama made his first visit to Little Caesars Arena.
Cade Cunningham, the Pistons’ No. 1 overall pick in 2021, missed his second-straight with a left knee strain. With him in street clothes, San Antonio was the superior team.
A weak first quarter by the Pistons allowed the Spurs to take control early, handing Detroit its third consecutive blowout loss.
The Pistons trailed by 16 points in the first quarter, setting the stage for an 130-108 loss to the Spurs in front of a frustrated Little Caesars Arena crowd. Wembanyama put on a show in a short amount of time, tallying a 16-point, 12-rebound, 10-assist triple-double in just 21 minutes of action. With the victory well in hand — the Spurs led by double-digits for the entire second half — Wembanyama subbed out for good with just over 7 minutes left in the game.
The Pistons were led by Jalen Duren (21 points, 12 rebounds), Jaden Ivey (19 points, five assists) and Bojan Bogdanovic (19 points). As a team, they shot 10-for-32 (31.3%) from 3 and gave up 16 points off of just 10 turnovers.
Pistons unable to rally from poor start
A 23-5 Spurs run in the first quarter essentially put the game away early. The Pistons struggled out of the game, shooting 34.8% overall (8-for-23) and 1-for-5 from 3 in the period as the Spurs shot 51.9%. With 1:25 remaining on the clock, Cedi Osman grabbed an offensive rebound while surrounded by several Pistons and was fouled, splitting the trip to the line to open a 31-15 lead.
The Pistons met Wembanyama with physicality near the basket but ultimately failed to slow him, as he had six points, five rebounds and four assists in the first 12 minutes.
The second quarter was better for the Pistons,
as they made 13 of 22 attempts and rallied to cut the deficit to eight. But it was the Spurs who entered halftime with momentum, as a banked-in 3-pointer by Jeremy Sochan extended their lead to 12 right before the buzzer.
It ended up being Detroit’s last surge of the night. San Antonio used a 15-5 run to push their lead to 19 early in the third, and it cracked the 20-point threshold, 83-63, at the 4:37 mark after a 3-pointer from Devin Vassell.
Monty Williams grateful for Pop’s guidance
He stopped short of referring to him as a father figure, but it’s clear that Pistons coach Monty Williams has a lot of respect and admiration for his counterpart Wednesday night.
Williams is one of several NBA head coaches plucked from Gregg Popovich’s coaching tree. He joined the Spurs first as a player, from 1996-98, and it was also Popovich’s first year as head coach. After Williams’ playing career ended in 2003, he joined the Spurs’ coaching staff as an intern before taking an official assistant job with the Portland Trail Blazers in 2005.
The two men developed a strong relationship, which has persisted throughout Williams’ career.
“Pretty much every, or some of the major events in my life, he’s always been there,” Williams said before the game. “You still don’t understand the magnitude of it until you get older and you start to look back at your life a little bit, and you realize some of the foundational people that had a huge impact on my life outside of basketball.
“Whenever I’m going through it as a coach or something in my life is going on, he’s quick to call, shoot a text and there have been times where he’s been ready to jump on a plane and come visit.'’