Ausar Thompson picked the worst possible time for a clunker. Yesterday in Cleveland, the Detroit Pistons' young wing finished with four points, four turnovers and a minus-27 plus-minus in a 112-103 loss to the Cavaliers. The defeat tied the Eastern Conference semifinal at 2-2 and sends the series back to Detroit with a whole lot of heat on the home team heading into Game 5 on Wednesday.
Next to Cleveland's scorers, Thompson's line barely registered. According to CBS Sports, he went 2-for-3 from the floor in 18 minutes and finished with 4 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist and those 4 turnovers. The same box score shows Detroit up by four at halftime before Cleveland's third-quarter surge and Donovan Mitchell's 43-point eruption flipped everything.
Free Press column: Pistons must answer
Columnist Shawn Windsor did not sugarcoat it, calling this Thompson's worst playoff performance and arguing that Detroit "had their worst effort of the series" as a whole. As detailed by the Detroit Free Press, muddled communication and shaky defense in Cleveland left the Pistons almost no margin for error.
How the game slipped away
Detroit went into the break leading 56-52, helped by Caris LeVert's 17 first-half points, according to live updates from the Akron Beacon Journal via Yahoo Sports. Cleveland answered with a 38-point third quarter and then a late push that put the game out of reach. CBS Sports' play-by-play also logged a late string of turnovers and miscues from Detroit, problems coach J.B. Bickerstaff and others will have to address before the series shifts back to Little Caesars Arena.
What's next
Game 5 returns to Detroit tomorrow, according to the NBA.com schedule, giving the Pistons one practice day to clean up rotations and sharpen late-game decision-making. If Thompson cannot take care of the ball, and if Detroit cannot blunt Cleveland's second-half punches, home court alone will not be enough to tilt the series back in the Pistons' favor.
Thompson has brought energy and defensive hustle throughout this postseason, but yesterday's showing is a reminder that playoff minutes do not come with much patience. How he and Detroit's veterans respond in Game 5 will go a long way toward revealing whether the Pistons' regular-season ceiling can hold up under playoff pressure.
