The Detroit Pistons weren’t good last year and shouldn’t be good this year either. But you would expect them to keep track of how many players they have on the floor.
A promising season opener turned into a disappointing collapse against the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday, outscoring Detroit 33-19 in the fourth quarter after a 115-109 loss. One of those allowed points was very avoidable.
The Pistons clung to a 98-96 lead midway through the fourth and entered the ball with six players on the floor ready to go. The referees quickly gave a technical foul to the team because there were too many men on the field.
The subsequent work on the telestrator was flawless:
The game was the Pistons debut of new head coach J.B. Bickerstaff, who argued his case vehemently with the officials when they awarded a free throw to the Pacers, which was made by Bennedict Mathurin.
The rest of the game didn’t go much better for Detroit.
It was a bad start to the season, but not without positives for the Pistons, especially considering you have to play well for three quarters to allow for a fourth-quarter collapse. Cade Cunningham continued to look like a rising star with 28 points, eight assists and five rebounds, while five other players scored in double figures.
After five consecutive seasons of missing the playoffs, the Pistons are desperate to exit their rebuilding phase and become competitive again, so much so that they ate $65 million to fire head coach Monty Williams and hire Bickerstaff.
