Detroit, MI
Detroit Pistons’ guards go cold against LeBron, Lakers in L.A., 125-111
LOS ANGELES — Since snapping their 28-game losing streak in late December, the Detroit Pistons have been among the NBA’s hottest-shooting teams.
That wasn’t the case Tuesday.
The Pistons hit just eight of their 28 attempts (28.6%) in an 125-111 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers at Crypto.com Arena. They started poorly and trailed by as many as 16 in the first quarter. A 17-2 second-quarter run put the Lakers further in control, and the Pistons trailed by 23 at halftime after shooting 3-for-19 (15.8%) from downtown in the first half.
It was a rough night for Detroit’s guards. Cade Cunningham (12 points, seven assists, seven rebounds) and Jaden Ivey (15 points, five assists) combined to shoot 9-for-31, and Marcus Sasser missed his first nine attempts before making his 10th late in the fourth quarter.
WAITING TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE: Quentin Grimes can’t wait to add his defense, winning mindset to Pistons
Ausar Thompson (19 points, 9-for-13 overall) and James Wiseman (18 points, 8-for-12) were more efficient. So was Evan Fournier, who scored 13 points in his Pistons debut.
The Lakers were led by LeBron James (25 points, eight assists), D’Angelo Russell (21 points) and Anthony Davis (20 points, 14 rebounds, six blocks).
It was Detroit’s second straight loss, following Saturday’s defeat to the Clippers, after consecutive road wins over the Portland Trail Blazers and Sacramento Kings.
New Piston Quentin Grimes, acquired from the New York Knicks last week, missed the game with a right knee sprain.
Detroit will fly to Phoenix to face the Suns on Wednesday before heading into All-Star break.
Pistons slump from 3 after hot stretch
Since Dec. 30, the Pistons are third in the NBA in 3-point percentage at 40.1%. It’s practically a 180 turnaround compared to the first two months of the season, during which they ranked 28th shooting 33.4% overall.
There were several factors driving Detroit’s improvement — including hot stretches by Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks and January’s trade that yielded Mike Muscala and Danilo Gallinari. Even after Thursday’s deadline, which saw all but Muscala depart the team, the Pistons project as a team that can knock down shots due to the additions of Grimes, Simone Fontecchio and Troy Brown Jr.
The Pistons couldn’t buy a 3-pointer in Los Angeles. A modest improvement in the second half — they went 4-for-8 after only getting three to fall in the first two periods — wasn’t enough to come back against the Lakers, who shot 14 of 35 (40%) from the 3-point line.
Fournier makes debut
The 31-year-old French forward, who arrived in Detroit alongside Grimes and Malachi Flynn last week, made his debut midway through the opening period. It wasn’t clear if the veteran would have a role on a team that suddenly has depth on the wing, but he was among Detroit’s better scorers on a night when most of the team struggled. He and Fontecchio were the only players to make more than one 3-pointer, with two each.
“I’m really excited to finally be out of New York, and looking forward to a new opportunity,” Fournier said after Sunday’s practice at UCLA.
“From watching those last three games and a couple of practices, high-energy team with a lot of enthusiasm. Hard-playing team, they’ve been playing really strong on the trip. So far, so good.”
[ MUST LISTEN: Make “The Pistons Pulse” your go-to Detroit Pistons podcast, available anywhere you listen to podcasts (Apple, Spotify) ]
Contact Omari Sankofa II at osankofa@freepress.com. Follow him @omarisankofa.
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(CBS DETROIT) – A driver was found dead inside a vehicle on I-94 in Van Buren Township early Friday, state police said.
Van Buren Township officers notified Michigan State Police that they found a Honda Civic on the I-94 freeway exit ramp at Haggerty Road at 2:35 a.m., and the driver was dead.
When troopers arrived, they identified the driver as a 59-year-old Flint woman and notified her family.
The investigation pends an autopsy and medical examiner’s report.
No evidence of foul play was found, state police said.
“The on scene investigation did not locate any signs of foul play, narcotics use, or any evidence of a crash,” Michigan State Police Lt. Mike Shaw said. “Once the autopsy is completed, we will be able to determine our next steps in this investigation.”
DETROIT LAKES
— The final chapter of the Detroit Lakes softball team’s 2024 season closed in their elimination bracket loss to No. 7 Willmar at Snappy Park.
The Thursday contest ended with the Cardinals (2-20) trouncing the Lakers 17-4 in five innings and living to see another day. Willmar put up 11 runs in the opening frame and Detroit Lakes was forced to play from behind right from the jump.
“A couple of errors in the first inning really killed us,” head coach Emma Mejia said. “We gave up too many runs. Pitching, we did as well as we could today but just gave up a few too many hits today.”
Madi Norsten launched a grand slam in the top of the first after the first five Willmar batters reached base. The Lakers managed to get their first out seven batters but the Cardinals were ahead 7-0. After the second out of the opening frame, Hannah Magnuson hit a two-out, three-run bomb and Willmar led 9-0.
Nick Leonardelli / Detroit Lakes Tribune
Detroit Lakes’ Sidney Borgmann was called off the mound after nine runs, two walks and seven hits in two-thirds innings pitched. Amelia May came in for relief and got the final out but the Lakers trailed 11-0 after a half-inning of play.
The Cardinals tacked on one run in the second and five more runs in the top of the third. Willmar ended the afternoon with 17 hits and 16 RBIs.
“You got to give some credit to Willmar,” Borgmann said. “I mean, they really hit the crap out of the ball. I think we really needed to cut down on errors but we just couldn’t pull it out today for some reason.”
Detroit Lakes made a comeback attempt with two runs in the second and third innings but it was too little too late. The Lakers managed to secure five hits but had zero RBIs. Detroit Lakes sent three pitchers to the mound with hopes of slowing down the Cardinals.
Nick Leonardelli / Detroit Lakes Tribune
Shea Thomas pitched the final two and one third innings allowing one hit, one walk and punching out four.
The Lakers were bested 17-2 against No. 3 Hutchinson in the opening round of the Section 8AA tournament. The last couple of days for the Lakers have been tough but that doesn’t take away from the growth the team saw since the first pitch.
“To be honest, it was disappointing because neither one of them should have been as bad as they were,” senior Ella Okeson said about the last two games. “But from our first game against Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton to here, there was lots of improvements, so you can’t be mad about that.”
After the game following the Lakers’ final gathering, Mejia and the other coaches gathered to talk with their three seniors – Isabelle Hansen, Borgmann, and Okeson.
Nick Leonardelli / Detroit Lakes Tribune
“We’re going to miss them, of course, but we’re going to miss their positive leadership and the way they embodied our culture,” Mejia said. “Coming in as juniors with new coaches and having different coaches every year, they really truly embodied and bought into our family dynamic and the team that we’re trying to build. They embodied everything we needed, and we appreciate that on a daily.”
The Lakers added two more wins from last season and finished with a 5-16 overall record. Mejia concluded her second season as head coach and the ex-Laker softball player is excited about the direction the team is headed.
Nick Leonardelli / Detroit Lakes Tribune
“Our main goal coming in this year was bring fun back into it, get better every practice, every game,” Mejia said. “We’re going to continue to do that every time. So that’s all I can ask for.”
And Borgmann sees that the program is in good hands with Mejia.
“I think it starts young, and I think we’ve definitely started to build up from there,” Borgmann said. “I think we have a lot of young talent, and I believe that they can go far, far places. They just need a little bit more time to develop.”
WILLMAR 17 DETROIT LAKES 4
WIL – 11 1 5 0 0 X X – 17
DTL – 0 2 2 0 0 X X – 4
DETROIT LAKES BATTING – Okeson: 1-3, R; Johnson: 1-2, R; Borgmann: 1-2; Chilton: 1-2, R, BB; Peterson: 0-1; Thomas: 0-1; Hansen: 1-2; May: 0-2; Larson: 0-2; Lyman 0-2
WP: Etterman (WIL); LP: May (DTL)
Nick Leonardelli / Detroit Lakes Tribune
Nick Leonardelli / Detroit Lakes Tribune
Nick Leonardelli / Detroit Lakes Tribune
(CBS DETROIT) – As temperatures rise, so do crime rates, according to Detroit police.
For the third year in a row, local and federal law enforcement are rolling out a program called the Summer Surge in preparation for summer.
“Too many incidents are happening in our city parks. Children in Detroit, like in cities elsewhere, should be able to go to their parks and feel safe and protected,” said U.S. Attorney Dawn Ison.
The inclusion of parks in the Summer Surge is new this year. Law enforcement agencies will focus attention on hot spots in the city. This year, two of those spots are Detroit’s eighth and ninth precincts.
“Under the strategy violent felons, arrested for illegally possessing weapons, possessing fully automatic weapons, those with fully automatic weapons in addition to those with obliterated serial numbers in the eighth and ninth precinct or in Detroit parks will be subjected to federal prosecution,” she said.
Ison said carjackings and robberies in those precincts will also be prosecuted federally. She says that crime rates in Detroit are down across the board.
“Citywide homicides are down more than 24%, non-fatal shootings, almost 23%, carjackings over 56% and robbery nearly 29%. And although there are still numbers on the board, let me be clear: we are not done,” she said.
The Summer Surge will run from Memorial Day through Labor Day.
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