LOS ANGELES_The five-game home stand the Los Angeles Clippers began Saturday night at Staples Center got off to a rocky start, their three-point defense failing them in the decisive fourth quarter and their offense becoming stagnant during this time.
It all added up to the Clippers dropping their first game of the season, losing 95-87 to the Detroit Pistons before 17,247 fans.
The Clippers couldn't contain the Pistons' three-point shooters in the fourth quarter, watching them make three straight at one point and four total in the final 12 minutes.
Stanley Johnson made the first three-pointer in the fourth, followed by two straight from Langston Galloway and another by Anthony Tolliver.
Then when Reggie Jackson, who had 15 points and seven assists, scored, the Clippers were in a 92-84 hole.
Danilo Gallinari made a three-pointer to pull the Clippers to with 92-87 and L.A. got a defensive stop by forcing the Pistons into a 24-second clock violation with one minute, three seconds left.
But the Clippers couldn't take advantage.
They shot the ball poorly all game, finishing 33.3 percent from the field.
Blake Griffin had 19 points and 11 rebounds. But he was just five-for-18 from the field, two-for-six from three-point range.
Austin Rivers had a strong game with 20 points on six-for-12 shooting, six-for-eight on three-pointers.
Gallinari had 13 points, but he was just four-for-16 from the field, three-for-10 from three-point range.
That was the kind of shooting night the Clippers had.
Meanwhile, the Pistons shot 40.9 percent from the field.
But they played just a little better defense in the fourth than the Clippers, holding them to just 15 points.
A dislocated right pinkie finger Rivers suffered late in Thursday night's game at Portland did not slow him down against the Pistons.
More than any of the other Clippers, Rivers was the one player who was there to help Griffin in the first half.
With the Clippers' offense stalling late in the second quarter, Rivers stepped into the void, scoring eight straight points to help L.A. open a 55-45 lead at halftime.
His aggressive nature led to two free throws to start his run.
Then he dropped in two consecutive three-point bombs, the last one coming after Rivers used a jab-step to get his defender off balanced, the ball settling into the nets.
Griffin had struggled with his shot in the first 24 minutes, missing eight of his 11 shots.
He had 14 points in the first half, most of that coming because Griffin made seven of 10 free throws.
Patrick Beverley couldn't get his offense going in the first half, missing all three of his shots and not scoring.
But sixth-man Lou Williams provided the Clippers with eight points in nine minutes, 33 seconds left.
Clippers rookie Sindarius Thornwell played in his fifth consecutive game, his confidence seemingly growing with every outing, his play improving each time the 6-5 guard steps on the court.
He played almost nine minutes.
