WASHINGTON – The government wasn’t the only thing shut down in Washington on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. So were the Pistons.
“There’s no excuse for it,” Dwane Casey said after the Pistons fell down by double digits early and never threatened to get back in the game, losing 101-87 to Washington in a holiday matinee. “We’re professional players. No matter what time the schedule says the game starts, we’ve got to get started. You can’t coach effort and focus. If we don’t come out with it, it’s going to be just like today all over again.”
The Pistons were coming off Saturday’s staggering buzzer-beating loss to Sacramento in which they led by 12 points midway through the fourth quarter and left bewildered and angered that the winning basket came on what they thought should have been whistled a violation on Buddy Hield.