The Spurs got outclassed by the Pistons to end Austin trip

Today at 12:27 AM

The Spurs were not ready to play

The Spurs were wasted by the Pistons on the second night of a back-to-back because they didn't show up on defense or on the glass. And coach Mitch Johnson deployed questionable rotations plus got schooled by J.B. Bickerstaff, who had his team more prepared.

"That third quarter got away from us… we were right there with them," Johnson said at the postgame presser.

The Pistons raced out to a 9-2 lead in the first two minutes, forcing the first Spurs timeout, but the defense was still a second slow when the action resumed. The visitors kept mismatch hunting in the post and scoring on screen rolls plus transition. Yet, De'Aaron Fox, Keldon Johnson and Stephon Castle's close and long-range baskets kept the team from getting embarrassed.

The second quarter started with the Spurs down 36-27, but their deficit vanished quickly courtesy of K. Johnson and Sandro Mamukelashvili taking over. On top of that, the defense was cranked up 50 degrees and only allowed two shots in the restricted area. Chris Paul took the team's first lead with a corner triple supplied by Julian Champagnie's steal in Piston's territory. Then Fox came back in, boat racing the Pistons and made two extra treys.

The Spurs were up 10 points in the last few minutes, but they ended the quarter poorly, committing two turnovers and giving up the corner plus a pull-up transition triple. Johnson also mentioned this after the game as one of the turning points.

At halftime, the Spurs were down 63-62. The Spurs had the edge in paint points 34-26 and in fastbreak points 10-4 but were tied in second-chance points at 11. Their biggest problems were getting abused on the glass, and Tobias Harris' 18 and Cade Cunningham's 10 points led the Pistons in scoring.

Subsequently, Jeremy Sochan started the third quarter, supplying good defense on Cunningham, but the Spurs permitted eight straight points in the first few minutes. Johnson and the troops briefly convened, but his directive didn't count for much as they was still getting pushed around like a skinny jeans team. As the period went on, Cunningham broke into the lane for multiple baskets and punished them from 3-point range, too.

Despite K. Johnson's four fourth-quarter baskets, the Spurs couldn't get back within striking distance. They failed to tag Jalen Duren's rim rolls, and permitted Malik Beasley to make a deep triple, which was enough at that point.

The Spurs lost 125-110 and were massacred on the glass by 23. Furthermore, they were outscored in paint points 62-58 and in second-chance points 21-18.

Play of the game

Castle raced up court with fewer than four seconds left in the first quarter for a pull-up 22-footer.

Game notes

• Fox and K. Johnson were the team's biggest bright spots on offense as they could go where they wanted on the dribble and scored efficiently. They combined for 22 baskets in 31 tries.
• Cunningham was bothered a bit by Sochan in the first half, but he soon cracked the code and started filleting everyone on the dribble. His gravity created lobs and he found openings in single coverage. On top of that, he, Duren and Harris each scored in the 20s on at least 66.7 percent shooting.
• The Spurs' slow start was reminiscent of a boxer getting stung with a hard uppercut and taking a few rounds to find their legs. And the third quarter went the same way as they were hanging on most of the time. A zone was even flashed, but it was weak and its heart was easily pierced. Fortunately for fighters, when it gets this ugly, a referee steps in, but in the Spurs' case, they just went down 24 points and played extended minutes in garbage time.
• The Pistons more than doubled the Spurs' points in the third quarter (38-18).
• Castle had a strong start to the game, scoring on a cut, putback and making his jumper. But he only played 13 minutes and scored three more points after the first quarter, while Paul wasn't doing much for the team on both sides. He played 21 minutes.
• The Spurs' half court attack scored 96.6 points per 100 plays, good enough for the 48th percentile, per Cleaning the Glass.
• Devin Vassell was a low-impact player. He missed makeable shots and even had the nerve to try a pull-up jumper against two defenders. Defensively, he got put on Cunningham's back hip quickly and was not able to contest.