The Detroit Pistons stumbled against the San Antonio Spurs last night, but Ron Holland was one of the bright spots amid the 11-point loss
If the Detroit Pistons’ 114-103 loss to the San Antonio Spurs were to be distilled into a three-word phrase, it would be either “Wemby’s defensive presence” or “Spurs’ perimeter shooting” and both descriptions would be accurate.
Playing in front of a lively home crowd, the Pistons allowed San Antonio to hit on 18 three-point attempts for a conversion rate of 45% in a game where Detroit only shot 19% from outside themselves. Of those long-range snipers, Devin Vassell went 7-for-11 from behind the arc in what was a physical contest with the subtext of a potential postseason battle.
During the third quarter, Pistons forward Ausar Thompson was caught trying to squeeze between Jalen Duren and Victor Wembanyama in an effort to close out on one of Vassell’s three-pointers. Thompson was late to close out, and head coach J.B. Bickerstaff promptly called a timeout to sit the third-year wing down for the rest of the game in what was a difficult learning moment.
However, Thompson’s benching paved the way for second-year forward Ron Holland to capitalize on the strong first half that he had. In the first quarter, Holland checked into the game and proceeded to score nine points in two minutes, and he kept that intensity dialed up for the rest of the game. Holland finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds, but his production off the bench was not enough to erase the Spurs’ second half lead.
After the game, Holland spoke about the Pistons’ rare lapses on defense Monday night and addressed how the team will work to correct those issues before facing the Spurs again next week.
“They got guys that can shoot the ball really good,” Holland said. “I think we did a little too much over-helping tonight, but again, we’re going to watch film and watch every single thing we did wrong and take steps in the right direction to fix it. We are a serious team, and we know we can get the job done. Once we clean everything up, I think we’ll be fine.”
Holland was not deterred by the Pistons’ loss on Monday night partly because Bickerstaff has helped instill a level of confidence in Detroit that cannot be stripped away with just one defeat. This season, the Pistons have a 6-2 record against the top five teams in the NBA, so Detroit has performed well against the league’s elite despite last night’s result.
“I think for 48 minutes if we continue to do what the Detroit Pistons do on every single night, which is play hard, communicate, be able to just lock in on every single possession,” Holland said. “That’s one of the key things we’ve been talking about since the beginning of the season, how important every single possession is going to be for us because we are a serious team and feel like we can get the job done.”
The Pistons have a quick turnaround with the Oklahoma City Thunder arriving in Motown for a Wednesday night game at 7:30 pm.
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