"If Pistons coach Lawrence Frank could bottle up the third quarter for his team and duplicate it, they'd probably win a lot more games.

It doesn't work like that, though, and the Memphis Grizzlies built enough of an early cushion to take care of the Pistons, 98-81, Friday at The Palace. It was the Pistons' fourth straight loss.

Brandon Knight (22 points, four assists) did his best to rally the Pistons, but it wasn't nearly enough to bring the Pistons back from what was a 23-point third-quarter deficit.

The Pistons put up maybe their worst performance of the season in the opening half, mustering only 30 points and trailing by 19. Against one of the league's best defenses, their turnovers were a key to their deficit — and eventual demise.

When the game was somewhat within reach in the fourth quarter, the Pistons turned it over 11 times.

"They're very aggressive defensively, their defense frustrated us," Frank said. "When you put yourself in that situation, you have to play near-perfect basketball."

The Pistons looked dead to rights for the first 24 minutes. The Grizzlies dominated in every facet, even without Zach Randolph (injury)."