The Detroit Pistons talks about his team keeping their composure and their win vs. the Cleveland Cavaliers, 113-102, on Monday, Nov. 19, 2018.
Detroit Free Press
Andre Drummond picked up his seventh technical foul.
Stanley Johnson and Reggie Jackson earned their firsts.
Even mild-mannered Jose Calderon picked up a technical.
With four technical fouls in Monday night’s 113-102 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Pistons league-leading total reached 15 through 14 games.
The grousing at the officiating crew of Scott Foster, Josh Tiven and Ray Acosta put a damper on the game where the Pistons once led by 30 points at Little Caesars Arena.
The rash of technical fouls slowed the team’s momentum and allowed the Cavs to make the Pistons keep playing with coach Dwane Casey going back to the starters to ensure the comfortable victory.
Casey's team leader Blake Griffin took the blame for the team’s lack of composure.
Griffin has three this season.
Casey promised it would be fixed.
More Detroit Pistons:
Pistons get off to hot start, cruise to win vs. Cavaliers
Detroit Pistons center Andre Drummond playing at an 'All-Star level'
“We’re going to get that corrected,” Casey said. “It starts with Blake (Griffin) on down to (rookie) Khyri Thomas, understanding that you’re not going to fight city hall — you might get beat or think you’re getting hit, but whatever it is, you have to keep your composure.”
What probably angers Casey more is Monday night’s timing.
The Pistons were leading by 24 points early in the fourth quarter when Johnson was called for a technical foul after several possessions of a running dialogue with Foster, who did the honors at the 10:45 mark.
Acosta rang up Calderon at the 9:41 mark.
Tiven must have felt left out because he hit Jackson with a bench technical at 9:02 mark.
Tiven got a second one, nailing Drummond with a technical foul with 4:59 remaining.
“Always like standing up for ourselves, but you’re never going to beat the power of the whistle,” Griffin said. “So I said to Coach Casey that it starts with me.
“I’ve gotten technicals late in games, early in the season, and I’ve set a bad precedent so we can’t have that — especially in the fourth quarter, second half, whatever it is.”
Drummond, who finished with 23 points, 15 rebounds and three blocked shots, should be concerned with his total.
Players earn an automatic one-game suspension at 16 technical fouls.
Casey doesn’t think it will get that far.
“I’ve done a bad job of setting the tone for that,” Casey said. “I’ve got to do a better job of setting the tone for our team. You get a technical, we got to find some reason or some consequence for that. We’ve got to have our composure."
The rash of T's put a damper on the Pistons winning their fourth in five games.
An exasperated Casey said: “We had a 25-point lead and getting technicals?”
Thomas gets a chance
At the 2:53 mark of the first quarter, Casey decided to sub for Reggie Bullock.
Thomas jumped from the bench and got his first taste of NBA action in a game that had yet to be decided — although the Pistons were comfortably ahead by 12 points.
He failed to score in 7:40. He took one shot.
Thomas has played well in stints with the Gatorade League affiliate in Grand Rapids.
In six games with the Drive, Thomas is scoring 20 points per game with 45 percent shooting from 3-point range.
Casey said there wasn’t a special reason to give Thomas a look.
Rookie Bruce Brown started earlier this season when the Pistons had a rash of injuries.
“Those young kids are going to be the future of the team and (Thomas) and Bruce have worked hard in the G-League and it was just a reward to give him some run.”
Contact Vince Ellis: vellis@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @vincent_ellis56.
