Detroit Pistons lose Ausar Thompson early on in Thursday night's 15-point loss to the Spurs
In a rematch of Detroit’s recent 11-point loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Feb. 23, the Pistons were unable fare any better in Thursday night’s 121-106 defeat, and they might actually be worse for wear.
During the first quarter, Pistons forward Ausar Thompson was pushing the pace with a dribble-drive just over two minutes into the game when the dynamic two-way slasher rolled his right ankle pretty badly. Thompson hopped out of his non-contact injury towards a chair on the baseline before limping to the locker room under his own power but did not return to the game.
So the first time Ausar played the Spurs this season, he was benched in the third quarter and did not return. But tonight, Thompson was injured in just the third minutes and never made his way back into the contest.
On top of the Pistons’ poor injury luck, Detroit center Jalen Duren fell deeply into foul trouble after Spurs big man Victor Wembanyama coaxed JD into his fourth personal foul during the second quarter. With Duren essentially nerfed for the rest of the first half, Wemby charged on with an utterly dominant 38-point, 16-rebound, five-block effort against the Eastern Conference’s top squad.
Much like in the late February contest, Wembanyama’s length and shot-blocking instincts in the paint impacted countless Detroit drives on Thursday night, and the Pistons were unable to mount any significant comeback with Cade Cunningham turning in another poor shooting performance.
Playing on the road, Cunningham was clearly bothered by Wemby’s All-World defense, and the Pistons’ floor general finished the game 10-for-26 in another inefficient 26-point effort. But with Cade unable to convert shots at his usual rate while Duren was hampered by foul trouble (JD picked up his fifth foul early in the third quarter) and without Thompson in the lineup, the Pistons had too many obstacles to overcome in the cross-conference battle.
With Thompson out due to his ankle injury, the Pistons opted to give both Marcus Sasser and Kevin Huerter more playing time than they’re used to, which could be viewed as one of few Detroit silver linings from the hard-fought loss. Huerter took advantage of his opportunity with a three-for-four shooting night, contributing seven points, four rebounds, two assists and some quality defense on the other end as well.
Since Duren missed so much of the game (12 minutes played), Isaiah Stewart stepped into a more prominent role with 18 points, six rebounds, one steal and one block in 30 minutes on the night. Stewart was injured for the Pistons’ first matchup with the Spurs, and Beef Stew provided respectable defense against the unguardable Wembanyama.
Falling to 45-16 in the regular season, the Pistons have a home game against the Brooklyn Nets (15-47) slated for Saturday, March 7 at 6 pm.
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