NBA scores 2014: Pistons’ losing skid hits 12, Mavs steamroll Bucks

The Pistons are a mess all around, the Mavs are an unstoppable offensive juggernaut and the rest of the action from Sunday in the NBA.

by Satchel Price

Dec 8, 2014, 1:00 PM UTC

Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports

The Detroit Pistons may not be the NBA's worst team this season, but they're coming close to giving the Philadelphia 76ers a run for their money. The Pistons dropped their 12th straight game Sunday night, losing to the Oklahoma City Thunder, 96-94, and now sit just a half-game ahead of the Sixers in the Eastern Conference standings.

It's not just that the Pistons are losing countless games, either. Just days after head coach and president of basketball operations Stan Van Gundy called the team "messed up," in a candid display of frustration, the Pistons decided to finish the game with Josh Smith launching a possible game-winning three. It didn't work.

Smith’s propensity to hijack the offense is just one of myriad issues plaguing the Pistons this season, but plays like this are easy to pinpoint as a source of the team’s struggles. Smith has tried to weed three-pointers out his game this season, taking roughly two fewer per game, but considering he’s shooting around 25 percent, his average number of attempts should be closer to zero.

With that said, Smith's lack of shooting skill personifies the entire roster. The Pistons have the lowest true shooting percentage (49.0) and effective field goal percentage (45.3) in the league, and don't exactly have any obvious option to take those shots late in games. Brandon Jennings also failed to hit a buzzer-beater when the team lost to Philadelphia two nights ago.

So we can certainly chuckle at the idea of a Smith three-pointer being Detroit's final play in a close game, but this stuff is really symptomatic of a roster that's brutally lacking in efficient scoring options. Whether it's Smith, Jennings, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope or D.J. Augustin, too many Pistons are shooting below 40 percent, and it's just hard to succeed as an offense when you're not getting easy buckets every once in a while.

SVG's frustration was noticeable at the end of the loss to OKC, and it's certainly understandable. New schemes haven't solved any of the problems that limited the team last season, and it's not like the Thunder played a stellar game Sunday night. Kevin Durant led with 28 points on 10-of-19 shooting and Russell Westbrook went off for 22 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists, but the team shot below 45 percent and needed some help on the offensive boards. This was very much a game the Pistons lost.

Even if nobody expected a trip to the Finals from Detroit, a run towards the No. 1 pick in the 2015 draft still comes as a disappointment. Then again, given how “messed up” things have gotten for the Pistons over the past few weeks, the top pick and a chance at Jahlil Okafor man not be so bad.

3 other things we learned

Nobody can stop the Mavs' offense. We already knew Dallas had the league's best offense -- it entered Sunday averaging more than two points more per 100 possessions than the next-best team (Toronto) -- but that doesn't make it any less impressive when the Mavs drop 125 points on 58 percent shooting against a top-10 defense. The Bucks may not be able to sustain their strong defensive numbers from here with more nights like Sunday, but then again, few -- if any teams -- can match the Mavericks' firepower. Chandler Parsons had his best game in a Dallas uniform, scoring 28 points on 11-of-14 shooting, while Monta Ellis and Dirk Nowitzki combined for another 40 on 15-of-25 shooting. There are a ton of great offenses in the league, but right now, Dallas is pretty clearly the best.

The Heat are a mess on D. Miami was routinely one of the league's toughest teams to score against during the LeBron James era, but things have quickly fallen apart in his absence. The Heat entered Sunday with the fourth-worst defensive rating (107.0) in the NBA, then allowed the Grizzlies to shoot 59 percent from the floor and 61 percent from three in a 103-87 loss. Dwyane Wade and Luol Deng no longer have their athleticism on the perimeter, and with each game, it's becoming increasingly clear Chris Bosh needs more help to keep opponents off the scoreboard.

Ty Lawson is an assist machine. The Nuggets have been one of the most inconsistent teams in the league, dropping their third straight game in a 96-84 loss to Atlanta on Sunday night, but there's been nothing erratic about their starting point guard's assist numbers. Lawson notched 10-plus assists for the eighth straight game against the Hawks, and has at least eight assists in all but one game since Nov. 3. He probably won't be able to catch up with Rajon Rondo, who has the entire offense revolving around him in Boston, but it wouldn't be surprising if Lawson joins him in averaging double-digit assist numbers this season. Even if the Nuggets no longer have a great offense, they still play at a fast pace, and that means a lot of chances for the speedy point guard to set up others.

Play of the night

This would be an impressive slam dunk even if Russell Westbrook was the only one on the floor and started at full speed from halfcourt. The acceleration and explosiveness displayed here, on the other hand, is pure Russ. He’s one of a kind.