The Latest Breaking News from Jaden Ivey

DETROIT — After back-to-back games of third-quarter collapses, the Pistons looked to conquer those after-halftime-lulls against the Utah Jazz in their final home game before Christmas.

DETROIT — Just when it appeared as if the Pistons were trending toward their second consecutive win, they gave up a 38-point third quarter to the Sacramento Kings to reverse their fortunes.

Earlier this year, longtime Kings season-ticket holder J.J. Jose had a question for his brother, whom he attends games with. “After Tyrese [Haliburton] got traded, I asked him: ‘Look, man, should we keep hanging on?’” he said, referring to their season-ticket package, which they’ve shared ...

This youthful Pistons roster has shown an ability to gain leads throughout the early stages of this season, but maintaining those leads and closing games have been difficult.

DETROIT — Adversity met the Pistons at their doorstep once again as they dug themselves into a 14-point deficit caused by turnovers, sloppy play and bad free-throw shooting.

Walker Kessler, Tari Eason, and Christian Koloko are thriving on defense.

With no Al Horford, Jaylen Brown, or Malcolm Brogdon (or Robert Williams III or Danilo Gallinari, while we are at it), the Celtics called on the next man up with a 43-point explosion from superstar forward Jayson Tatum to secure the win.

MIAMI — There is no defense played in the NBA draft lottery. And yet with the generational talent of Victor Wembanyama available in the May 16 drawing, the outcome of the random-but-weighted process for non-playoff teams could impact the Miami Heat’s playoff or championship outlooks for years to come.

BOSTON — The majority of the Pistons' opponents throughout the early part of this season only possessed one All-Star on their team.