After putting up a fight against the Bucks, albeit in a blowout loss, the Pistons were looking to keep that effort against a team that doesn’t have arguably the best player in the world. The Pistons came out strong in the first quarter and held the Pacers to six points through the first seven minutes of the game.
The Pistons were able to keep up the defensive intensity and hold the Pacers to 19 first quarter points. They led 31-19 after one quarter, led by Luke Kennard’s 11 points.
With Markieff Morris out with an injury, the Pistons were forced to play Thon Maker, and things went south a bit in the second quarter when Maker checked in.