AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- The Detroit Pistons knew coming into the season that outside shooting was going to be their biggest weakness.
They never expected it to be this bad.
The Pistons went 0-15 on jumpers in the first half Friday, and although they hit a few after the intermission, the outside ineptitude was enough to let the Los Angeles Lakers steal a 106-102 victory.
"Obviously, at some point, we've got to make shots," Pistons coach Maurice Cheeks said. "We live on the inside, but we have to shoot better than that. At some point, we will hit those jumpers."
There was nothing wrong with the Pistons' game plan. They score more points in the paint than any team in the league, while the Lakers struggle badly with interior defense.
But Detroit still needs something from the perimeter to keep teams from just packing the paint. That's what Los Angeles did down the stretch, and it changed the game.
"It was 76-28 on points in the paint, so you can't really say that we stopped them," Los Angeles coach Mike D'Antoni said. "We knew it was going to happen because they are a load inside with those three big guys, and we aren't exactly good at post defense right now.
"There wasn't much we could do, but our guys stepped it up defensively in the fourth quarter."
The Pistons led 99-91 with 4:22 to play and looked like they were heading for a comfortable victory when everything imploded.
Jordan Farmar hit a 3-pointer -- the Lakers hit 14 threes to the Pistons' one -- and Josh Smith missed at the rim. Then, with Andre Drummond watching helplessly from the bench, Los Angeles put together the possession that turned the momentum in their favor.
Farmar drove to the rim, but Smith blocked his shot. Farmar got his own rebound and fed Nick Young for a jumper which was another miss. But Pau Gasol grabbed the ball and got it back to a driving Young.
He couldn't get his layup to drop, but Gasol grabbed a third straight offensive rebound. The Lakers threw the ball back out, and Farmar found a lane for an uncontested layup, pulling Los Angeles within 99-96 on the fourth shot of a 28-second possession.
With the Lakers jammed into the lane, the Pistons were forced to either take contested shots at the rim or pull up for the jumpers they had been missing all night. They missed their next three shots, and the Lakers suddenly had a 103-99 lead with a minute left to play.
Los Angeles had four perimeter shooters on the floor down the stretch, and Cheeks matched up with Rodney Stuckey, Brandon Jennings, Kyle Singler and Josh Smith.
That left Greg Monroe against Gasol inside, and Gasol was able to take advantage on the glass. Drummond might have been a better matchup, but he sat out the final 21 minutes after picking up his fourth foul early in the third.
"They had a small lineup out there, and I thought we needed to score," Cheeks said. "That's why I kept Greg on the floor as opposed to Andre.
"Hindsight is 20-20, but I could have put him in there and he probably could have gotten a few of those rebounds."
Monroe didn't help with the offense, though. He played the last 8:55 without taking a single shot and had just one rebound along with a turnover and a foul.
Drummond, who finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds in his 16 minutes, took the blame for his coach's decision.
"It isn't just about my stats," he said. "I made a stupid play, got my fourth foul and I had to sit on the bench. That's my fault.
"It's a domino effect. One thing leads to another, and they came back and took the lead to win the game."
Even after Los Angeles took the lead, Detroit had chances.
Jennings was fouled on a 3-pointer, giving him a chance to tie the game from the line with 16.7 seconds to play. He didn't just miss the first shot, he missed the second one, as well.
Farmar kept Detroit alive by missing both his free throws, but Stuckey missed an off-balance jumper. And after Gasol knocked the rebound out of bounds, Smith was called for an obvious offensive foul as he tried to tie the game.
"We called both plays for Stuckey, but someone jumped out at him on the first one and he had to make an adjustment," Cheeks said. "On the second one, he got the ball but the clock was running down, so he had to pass it to Josh and they took the charge."
The Pistons are now 6-10 after two bad home losses in three days. They were outscored 42-26 in the fourth quarter of the two games, giving away a pair of games Drummond thought they should have won.
"We've got to find a way to close out games," he said.
