Dead legs or back to earth for the Pistons?
A mixture of both, but mostly the former.
Sure, the Pistons aren't an elite team. However, there is still plenty of reason to beleive that their impressive ten game stretch wasn't a fluke. Keep in mind, too, that they had played five games in seven nights, four of which went down to the wire. The team looked gassed, and a day of rest before two softer teams will do Detroit some good.
They faced a tough Pelicans team, however, that now finds themselves at an even 19-19 approaching the halfway point of the season. They have perhaps the best young big man in the NBA in Anthony Davis, who dropped 27 points, 10 boards, and four blocks. Additionally, Ryan Anderson added 17 points and hit two crucial three pointers off the bench to crush the small momentum the Pistons were able to gather in this game.
Tyreke Evans, in the absence of starting point guard Jrue Holiday, scored 18 points to go with five assists. Because of Evans' size, he has been playing small forward this season and doing fairly well, even though he was drafted by the Kings as a point guard. Jimmer Fredette, the former BYU sharp shooter, provided back-to-back and-1 buckets to help the Pelicans turn a four-point lead into 22 heading into halftime.
Twenty-two was as close as Detroit got in this one, at least that's how it felt. They were able to get to within 15 points in the fourth quarter and couldn't find any sort of consistent offense in the second half. Small forward Kyle Singler was put in the dog-house after an errant no-look pass, as Jonas Jerebko and Caron Butler filled in the 3 spot the rest of the game.
D.J. Augustin, Brandon Jennings, and Greg Monroe were the only Pistons to reach double figures, and the team had a season-low 30 rebounds, which makes sense with New Orleans shooting 39 percent from deep and grabbing 11 offensive boards.
The Pistons will hope to rest up and bounce back against the Indiana Pacers on Friday at 7:00 PM EST, while the Pelicans hope to get a winning record the same night against the Philadelphia 76ers, with that game also tipping off at 7:00 PM EST.