From the onset of the Detroit Pistons’ Eastern Conference showdown with the Washington Wizards on Thursday night, the home squad was facing an uphill battle at Little Caesars Arena. 

Entering the matchup at 37-12, the Pistons had recently shipped Jaden Ivey off to the Chicago Bulls via trade, so Detroit was bound to look different to some degree. But to compound that reality, veteran forward Tobias Harris was ruled out prior to tip-off due to a lingering hip issue and Daniss Jenkins missed the game due to a G-League designation. Cade Cunningham was questionable before the game with his own wrist injury, but the All-Star point guard powered through what was a disappointing 126-117 loss to the Wizards in a very winnable game. 

The Pistons fell into a deep hole early in the first half but battled back valiantly to close the gap to just one possession during the second quarter. However, Detroit center Jalen Duren was taken out of the game at halftime as a precautionary measure due to soreness in his knee, so the Pistons’ dire straits went from bad to worse in the blink of an eye. 

From that point, the Wizards gradually extended their lead to double-digits in the second half and never looked back. Without his All-Star partner to turn to late in the contest, Cunningham shouldered much of the offensive impetus for the Pistons with 30 points on 10-for-21 shooting, and he also added eight assists and eight rebounds in the tough loss. 

While Duren did log four points and three rebounds before exiting the contest, veteran sharp-shooter Duncan Robinson filled in mightily as an offensive threat on the perimeter with 21 points as he connected on a half dozen shots from behind the arc. Robinson hoisted up 15 three-point attempts on the night, which is well above his season average of 7.3 long-range shots per game, but that was likely influenced by the Pistons’ deficit.

From a team perspective, the Pistons shot just 27% from downtown, whereas the Wizards finished the game with a 44% connection rate and sunk nine more triples than Detroit did. And in a game that was ultimately decided by nine points, perimeter shooting was the difference. 

As for Detroit’s newest addition, the Pistons opted to utilize Huerter sparsely in his debut. Huerter logged just six minutes in a game where the Detroit offense looked much more disorganized than it normally does, so he cannot be held at fault for the offense’s chaotic structure without many of their usual fixtures. 

But when Huerter was on the floor, the eighth-year vet looked explosive as he fought through screens and battled defensively in the post. At one point, Huerter was backed down by a Wizards, only for the new Detroit wing to strip the ball, halting the Washington possession in its tracks for the turnover. Huerter also showed timely hustle as he battled for a rebound and intentionally bounced the ball of a Washington player to effectively steal another possession for Detroit in the first half. 

But on Thursday night, the Pistons had a textbook situation where what could have gone wrong, did. The team was out of rhythm with a vastly different rotation than normally takes the floor, so Washington was able to enter the Pistons’ facility and walk away with a victory that Detroit would like to have back. Perhaps Huerter's outside shooting ability would have made a difference in the second half of Thursday night's loss. 

Finally, the Pistons' 9-5 crew deserve a bit of recognition for their effort against Washington, particularly in terms of cleaning the glass. With Duren out for the second half, both Ron Holland and Ausar Thompson increased their rebounding focus to make up for the big man's absence. Holland finished with 11 points and 10 boards for his first career double-double, and Thompson logged 13 points and nine rebounds as well. 

The Pistons will have an opportunity to enact revenge on the Wizards on Tuesday, March 17 at 7 pm. 

In the meantime, the Pistons will have a quick turnaround on this one with a 7:30 tip-off at home tomorrow night against the New York Knicks. 

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