The Lakers brought their poor second half against the Raptors from Friday to Detroit on Monday. The result was the most frustrating loss of the season, as the Lakers fell behind big early and never got back into the game, losing 115–103.

Anthony Davis scored 37 points with his nine rebounds and four assists. LeBron James finished with 20 points, eight rebounds and 11 assists. D’Angelo Russell pitched in with 11 points and eight assists. Austin Reaves finished with 17 points, four assists and four rebounds.

The bench was awful, scoring a disappointing 10 points. Jaxson Hayes and Dalton Knecht each had five points. Although he didn’t score, Cam Reddish provided impressive minutes defensively in his first action of the season. He played 14 minutes and replaced Max Christie in the rotation.

AD started aggressively and converted on a free throw and then a layup. Both teams began trading baskets and the lead. Six minutes into the quarter they were shooting 33% from the field and the Pistons took advantage by taking an eight lead.

After Detroit’s offense slowed down, LA began running the ball in transition. The Lakers cut the deficit to two.

However, the Pistons started converting their shots again. Jaden Ivey was converting layups and he dished a dime to Isaiah Stewart for an alley-oop layup that had the crowd rocking.

At the end of the first, the Lakers trailed by eleven.

The Pistons were still cooking to start the second. LA didn’t look serious and struggled more than necessary against a team like the Pistons. Detroit scored easily, with many of their points coming in transition and their lead increased to 13 as the Lakers continued to look lethargic.

LA had no defensive presence in the paint while AD sat and the Pistons scored with ease. Unfortunately, even with AD back, Detroit converted to whatever they wanted. The Pistons had all the momentum in their favor and went up by 17 points.

Los Angeles’ disastrous first half ended with a three from LeBron. At halftime they were still behind by fourteen.

The second half started with an offensive foul, which led to another turnover for LA. The Lakers still had zero energy and hustle, while the Pistons looked like they wanted more. A mid shot from AD and a three-pointer from Austin gave the team the mildest ounce of life.

As the third period ended, the Lakers closed the deficit to 11 on a 7-0 run. D’Lo and Austin eventually reached double figures in scoring as everyone else struggled. The Lakers finally found some fight, while the Pistons missed their shots.

At the end of the quarter, LA closed to within six with much better defense and shooting.

The Pistons struck first, starting the final frame. LA closed the deficit to eight as they continued to claw their way back into the game. The three-ball was rough for the Lakers, missing a few that could have helped them get even closer.

As close as Los Angeles seemed to get, Detroit had the answer and with 6:53 to go they were up by nine. With 3:19 to go, the Lakers trailed by eight. Despite visible discomfort with his ankle, AD remained indoors for the entire process.

LeBron knocked down two free throws to make it a six-point game. But Ivey put the final nail in the coffin with a three-pointer and a layup. The Pistons then added more injuries with a few more layups to close out the game.

Key Takeaways:

The lack of care the team showed for 97% of this match was appalling. You can’t let a young, hungry team like the Pistons outplay you all game long.

Will we ever get good games from Max Christie and Gabe Vincent? What’s going on? Why can’t he at least appear offensively?

After some great starts, Rui took a dip in production. Hopefully it’s just a minor slump that will get better sooner or later.

The Lakers’ next game is Wednesday against the Memphis Grizzlies at 5:00 PM PT.

You can follow Karin on Twitter at @KarinAbcarians.