Pistons guard Derrick Walton Jr. fouls Knicks guard Alec Burks during the second half of an NBA game on Wednesday in Detroit. Credit: AP/Carlos Osorio
DETROIT — Tom Thibodeau likes to lecture his team that every player who makes it to the NBA has to be great to get there, so ignore the names on the jersey, the pedigree of the opposition, and just play hard.
And for much of the night Wednesday at Little Caesars Arena his point could be debated. But not because of the performance of the no-name assemblage of players that the Detroit Pistons put on the floor, but because of the awful, lifeless effort by his own most heralded players.