Doumbouya makes most of his minutes in Pistons' Summer League finale

It was good while it lasted. 

The Las Vegas Summer League is over for the Pistons, following a 105-85 loss to the Brooklyn Nets in the quarterfinals on Saturday night at Thomas & Mack Center. 

The Pistons finished the preliminary round 4-0 and were the second seed in the tournament but played without Bruce Brown, who was their starting point guard and one of the leading scorers in the past week. 

BOX SCORE: Nets 105, Pistons 85

Jordan Bone, who started for Brown, had 18 points,Khyri Thomas 15 points and five rebounds and Jarrod Uthoff 12 points for the Pistons. 

Jarrett Allen led the Nets with 30 points and 11 rebounds and Isaia Cordinier 20 points off the bench. 

Pistons rookie Sekou Doumbouya made his debut after dealing with hamstring issues. He had nine points, including 1-of-4 on 3-pointers, and two rebounds in 13 minutes.

Observations

►  Brown had been an integral part of the Pistons’ offense throughout the preliminary games. He led the Summer League in assists and without him, the Pistons managed just 14 assists. Brown averaged 8.3 per game and no Piston had more than three in Saturday’s game. They missed his defense and his leadership on the court and although there was no reason given for his missing the game, it’s likely they wanted to see Bone run the offense and have Svi Mykhailiuk (eight points) share some of the load.

► Bone showed his physical skills in the starting lineup. He relies on his quickness to get to the rim, which is a different style than Brown and he finished 6-of-12 from the field and an impressive 6-of-7 from the free-throw line. He’s on a two-way contract and he’ll get more seasoning with the Grand Rapids Drive. The 57th overall pick, Bone will be a player to watch for the Pistons this season, especially if they experience injuries with their three point guards on the roster. 

►  Doumbouya was good in his first minutes of Summer League, making his first two field goals before going 1-of-5 the rest of the way. Hamstring injuries bothered him for all of Summer League so it was hard to get a good gauge on his strengths, but when he entered Saturday, he didn’t look out of place. The Pistons will continue to work with him throughout the summer to get him ready for the season and improve his shot.

►  Matt Costello had another good showing, with eight points and eight rebounds, but was only 4-of-10 from the field and missed all three of his 3-point attempts. It’s unclear whether he might secure the last roster spot for the Pistons, but he was their leading scorer through the preliminary rounds and if he doesn’t stick with the Pistons, another team could be interested. 

►  Mykhailiuk had his worst shooting performance of Summer League, going 2-of-12 from the field but was playing more on the ball and had to facilitate the offense. He could vie for more playing time next season but will help himself if he’s multi-faceted and can play a couple of positions on the court. 

Rod.Beard@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @detnewsRodBeard