Andre Drummond understands sitting late due to free throw issues

It has to be a strange feeling, to play well for an entire game but sit in its final moments.

Such is life for Andre Drummond, who has been playing well of late but remains a fixture on the Detroit Pistons' bench late in close games because head coach Stan Van Gundy doesn't trust him at the free throw line.

Drummond is averaging 12.2 points and 13 rebounds and the Pistons have outscored opponents by 10.2 points per-100 possessions with Drummond on the floor since waiving Josh Smith on Dec. 22. That's impressive and valuable production, but with Drummond hitting just 42.5 percent at the free throw line - an embarrassing career-best - opposing teams can foul him late in games to get the ball back with little risk of surrendering two points.

The Atlanta Hawks employed that strategy in the first half on Monday, and it led to Drummond sitting for the entire fourth quarter. That's hardly new, as Drummond is averaging 6.3 minutes in fourth quarters, his fewest in any frame. That's a reality he understands, much as he may like to be better.

"Obviously, you want to be out there to help your team," Drummond said. "But Coach is going to feel like it's the best fit, and then you got to understand that he feels a certain way about the right guys that fit at that moment."

Van Gundy has been here before, having coached Dwight Howard for years with the Orlando Magic. Howard was a 58.8 percent free throw shooter in Orlando, meaning a trip to the line had an expected value of 0.2 points higher than Drummond, a considerable jump.

Drummond is averaging just 2.1 minutes in what the NBA defines as clutch situations. The Pistons are averaging 3.4 such minutes, and Drummond has set out the entirety of crunch time on seven of 24 occasions. In the 36 clutch minutes he's played, he's 3-of-8 at the stripe and the Pistons have been outscored by 38 points.

In other words, it's tough to argue with Van Gundy's logic here.