AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – Brandon Ingram picked up where he left off in his start two nights earlier, but the Lakers were overpowered by Detroit’s All-Star center Andre Drummond in a 121-102 loss.
Drumond finished with 24 points, 17 rebounds, 4 blocked shots and 3 steals in 28 minutes, as the Pistons (25-28) beat the Lakers for the second time in a matter of weeks. They also won, 102-97, at Staples Center on Jan. 15.
Unlike in that game, however, the Lakers were not in a position to win late. They were outscored by 16 points in the third quarter – yes, that again – and could not recover from the 92-70 hole they faced entering the final period.
The bright spot was Ingram, who after replacing Luol Deng as the Lakers starting small forward on Monday, finished with 15 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds. Three-point shooting, a real issue for Ingram early in the season, has become a strength. He made his first three attempts from beyond the arc before missing one in the waning moments of the game.
Lou Williams once again led the way offensively, he and Julius Randle tied for the team’s top scoring honors with 17 points apiece. Williams was a perfect 9 for 9 from the foul line.
Tarik Black, who replaced Timofey Mozgov at center the same night Ingram jumped Deng, finished with eight points and 10 rebounds. Undersized at 6-foot-9, Black was overpowered by the 7-foot Drummond, who sat out the fourth quarter.
The Lakers fell to 1-3 on the trip, with only Friday’s game in Milwaukee remaining before returning to Los Angels. They are 18-37 overall with three games remaining before the week-long All-Star break.
Much more to come on this story.
Contact the writer: boram@scng.com
Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.
