Pistons take ‘good step forward,’ seek consistency

Los Angeles — Reggie Jackson wore a big smile. Andre Drummond joked about his 62-foot 3-pointer. Coach Stan Van Gundy felt a sense of relief in what was just a run-of-the-mill postgame press conference.

That’s what can happen when the Pistons win. They got one that they needed, topping the Los Angeles Lakers, 102-97, on Sunday night, finishing their five-game trip out west with two victories. It’s a losing record for the trip, but it’s a stark contrast to what the scene in the locker room would’ve been if they had lost to the Lakers, who are 15-30.

Blowing an 18-point lead at Sacramento last week was a big enough blow, but with team owner Tom Gores sitting courtside, things could have gotten awkward with another gut-punch loss. But even 2-3 isn’t good enough for Van Gundy, who’s had to navigate through injuries and inconsistencies to guide the Pistons to a 19-24 mark.

Now, he’s turning his attention to the second half of the season and trying to get the Pistons back to the playoffs.

“We have to change the way we’re playing. We’re not far out of it; we can still do it,” Van Gundy said Sunday, “but we can’t do it the way we’ve played for most of the last 22 games; it’s going to have to be a lot better, but it was a good step forward.”

And that’s the quandary around the Pistons on the trip — and the first half of the season, even — that they have to find a consistent level of play on both ends of the court. They can’t continue to give up 3-pointers with poor defense the way they did on the road trip, including 52 percent against the Jazz, and hope to be a contending team.

Even before Kentavious Caldwell-Pope’s injury, they were having their share of troubles stopping teams from hitting from beyond the arc. Jon Leuer, who was injured in the second game of the trip, was a key cog in the frontcourt.

Gores on Pistons: 'We're going to make a run'

When Drummond played one of his best defensive games of the season against the Kings, he often didn’t get help on his man when he left to protect the rim and guard a driving offensive player. It’s a cycle that will have to be fixed at some point, but the trust on the defensive end hurt their chances on the road trip.

The Pistons were close heading into the third quarter of the other two losses, at Golden State and at Utah, but withered in each game. The streak of 30-plus-point quarters showed the lack of defensive intensity and their inability to put together a complete game.

Van Gundy seems to have the roadmap to pull out of the midseason dip, but the players have to buy in with him and follow the plan. Van Gundy also can’t reward players with playing time who aren’t living up to their expectations.

He seems optimistic that things can turn around, but it has to be done the right way.

“We have to change the way we’re playing. It’s not a matter of the record; it’s a matter of the fact we haven’t been guarding anybody,” Van Gundy said. “We didn’t guard anybody in the first half (Sunday); the second half was a little bit better. We’re going to have to lock in defensively and move the ball to get better and play together.”

Gores met with Van Gundy on Saturday night to get a status update and to chart the path forward for the remainder of the season. It’s not clear whether they’re going to stay the course or make some changes — as Van Gundy has been wont to do during trade deadlines the past couple years.

“He came and we met for two and a half or three hours (Saturday) night and talked things through. Tom’s perspective was that we’ve been here two and a half years and moved things forward and the last six weeks haven’t been good,” Van Gundy said. “It’s really six weeks. In early December, everyone though everything was heading in the right direction. His thing was to not overreact to six weeks out of what has been a little over a two-and-a-half-year building process.

“We talked through our team and our options and what we think we have to do to play better this year and what the long-term picture was.”

Van Gundy has said he likes the players he has and the direction they’re going. The trip may not have changed any of that, especially with the injuries to Caldwell-Pope and Leuer, the encouraging signs from Stanley Johnson and the emergence of Boban Marjanovic.

The Pistons have a favorable schedule remaining, with just 17 road games and 22 games at The Palace. Van Gundy pointed to that as one of their opportunities to get back toward .500 and into the playoffs.

But they can’t do what they’ve been doing — and they’ll need to be better than they were on a 2-3 trip.

rod.beard@detroitnews.com

Twitter.com: @detnewsRodBeard