INDIANAPOLIS _ Blake Griffin missed his second consecutive game with a sore left knee.
But unlike in Saturday night's 99-90 victory over Portland, the Pistons were unable to overcome his absence.
The Pistons yielded a 36-point second quarter and allowed the Indiana Pacers to shoot 54.5 percent in a 111-102 loss at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
The Pistons came into the game sixth in the Eastern Conference playoff chase with pursuers Brooklyn, Miami and Orlando also in action Monday night.
The Pistons (39-38) were also without guard Luke Kennard, but the playoff-bound Pacers were missing their starting backcourt of Darren Collison (groin) and Wes Matthews (hamstring).
Wayne Ellington led the Pistons with 26 points and Reggie Jackson scored 22, but the Pistons bench struggled, scoring 22 points.
Seven Pacers scored in double figures, led by 19 points each from Thaddeus Young and Bojan Bogdanovic. Young added nine rebounds and five assists. The Pacers (46-32) shot 10-for-22 from 3-point range.
The Pacers visit Little Caesars Arena on Wednesday night.
Andre Drummond scored 18 points, grabbed 17 rebounds and added five assists, although he was 8-for-18 from the field.
Thon Maker replaced Griffin in the starting lineup, and scored 14 points on a 4-for-7 shooting night from 3-point range. The Pistons are 1-4 without Griffin this season.
Griffin has played in 72 games this season, the most games since the 2013-14 season.
The timing of the issue brings back concerns raised when the Pistons obtained Griffin from the Los Angeles Clippers in January 2018.
Griffin hasn't played 80 regular-season games since the 2013-14.
It didn't take much to better the first quarter offensive output after scoring only 11 points Saturday against the Blazers, but the Pistons easily surpassed the lowlight early in the game.
Ellington was the catalyst, scoring 15 points in the first quarter, as the Pistons took a 33-23 lead.
Ellington was 3-for-6 from 3-point range in the quarter with his 3 at the 1:42 mark giving the Pistons a 31-20 lead.
The NBA named Drummond the Eastern Conference player of the week, his second such honor for the month of March.
Drummond led the Pistons to a 2-1 week by averaging 17.7 points, 18.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 3.7 blocks and 2.3 steals per game.
Drummond leads the NBA in rebounding and double-doubles. He is also the only player in the NBA this season to rank in the top-10 in blocks per game and steals per game.
