NBA Power Rankings: The Clippers keep coming

The Pistons week didn’t start off well, with a loss at home to the Hornets, coughing up a first half lead. Charlotte scored 68 points in the second half as the Pistons were lackadaisical on defense, much to the chagrin of their coach, Stan Van Gundy. “If we aren’t going to guard, we aren’t going to win,” Van Gundy said. “That’s the whole story.”

The Pistons went on the road for a tough matchup against the Toronto Raptors, and although Andre Drummond had 25 points and 17 rebounds, they lost 96-91. The Pistons were unable to overcome another slow start, losing the first quarter 31-18. They had the lead in the fourth quarter, 79-75, but defensive breakdowns allowed the Raptors to take the lead for good. Stanley Johnson came back for their game against the Wizards on Friday, but his presence wasn’t enough to make them an effective defensive team, as they gave up 45 points in the fourth quarter and lost 122-112.

Their week ended as poorly as it began, dropping a heartbreaker to the Nets on Sunday, 101-100, with Spencer Dinwiddie dropping in a jumper with 0.9 seconds remaining to spoil 20 points from Tobias Harris. It wasn’t a good look for Van Gundy, who had Ish Smith, who’s 6-feet tall when he’s in heels, guarding the 6-foot-6-inch tall Dinwiddie. That’s not an ideal matchup for Detroit, but isn’t entirely Smith’s fault when he gave up that jumper.