WASHINGTON — The Pistons didn’t waste time trying to get Marvin Bagley III some playing time. After coming to the Pistons last week in a deal at the trade deadline, Bagley made his debut on Monday night against the Washington Wizards.
Bagley played with the second unit and had a good first game, but the Pistons couldn’t rally in the fourth quarter, falling to the Wizards, 103-94 at Capital One Arena.
The Pistons (12-45) have lost eight straight games and 12 of their last 13 games, and they’ll head into the All-Star break after Wednesday’s matchup at Boston.
Bagley finished with 10 points and eight rebounds in 21 minutes and Saddiq Bey led the Pistons with 24 points, five rebounds and five assists. Jerami Grant had 14 points, Cade Cunningham 12 points, four rebounds and four assists and Isaiah Stewart 11 points and nine rebounds.
After a hook shot by Bagley, the Wizards (26-30) led, 78-76, with 2:00 remaining. Washington finished the third quarter with a 9-2 run, including seven points by Kyle Kuzma (23 points and seven rebounds), and pushed the lead to 87-78.
Bagley made two of four free throws early in the fourth, to get within 88-81, and that started a 9-2 spurt, with drives by Rodney McGruder and Cory Joseph and a 3-pointer by Bey, cutting the deficit to 90-88 with 6:19 left.
The Pistons couldn’t get stops down the stretch and the Wizards extended the lead with nine straight points. Raul Neto scored on two drives inside, Deni Avdija (12 points and 15 rebounds) scored a jumper and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (16 points) hit a 3-pointer, as the lead ballooned to 99-88 with 2:32 remaining.
The Pistons scored just two baskets the rest of the way, and the Wizards didn’t relent.
