Andre Drummond and Greg Monroe show what they can accomplish together without Josh Smith
By Dan Feldman
| Greg Monroe, PF Shot Chart 39 MIN | 10-24 FG | 1-1 FT | 13 REB | 2 AST | 2 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 21 PTS | +7Monroe excelled inside, hitting the offensive glass and scoring. Most encouragingly, he did it in tandem with Drummond. The future, without Smith such a major part of it, could be bright. |
34 MIN | 1-6 FG | 0-0 FT | 4 REB | 0 AST | 2 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 2 PTS | -4
Singler started at small forward, which should typically a better fit for him defensively than shooting guard. But Kyle Korver is as adept at freeing himself off-the-ball on the perimeter as any shooting guard, meaning Singler faced all the usual challenges. Korver scored all 12 his points while Singler played and shot 0-for-4 with Singler on the bench. Singler shot poorly himself, too.
Andre Drummond31 MIN | 7-9 FG | 5-11 FT | 17 REB | 0 AST | 2 STL | 2 BLK | 2 TO | 19 PTS | +1
Drummond used his size to absolutely dominate the Hawks. They had no absolutely no answer for him.
Brandon Jennings34 MIN | 3-10 FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 6 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 7 PTS | +9
Jennings didn’t light the world on fire, but he mostly stayed out of the way.
Rodney Stuckey39 MIN | 8-17 FG | 12-14 FT | 4 REB | 4 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 8 TO | 29 PTS | +13
Stuckey started in place of Josh Smith, giving the Pistons a sensible starting lineup. It’s not a good lineup, but at least it was sensible. Offensively, Stuckey saw points for the taking against a lethargic and discombobulated opponent, and to his credit, he took them. Stuckey defended well in the halfcourt. When the Hawks got into transition, Stuckey remained on offense. That carelessness extended to taking care of the ball, too.
Jonas Jerebko26 MIN | 2-4 FG | 3-4 FT | 8 REB | 0 AST | 2 STL | 1 BLK | 1 TO | 8 PTS | +4
Jerebko provided efficient, energetic minutes.
Peyton Siva15 MIN | 3-6 FG | 1-2 FT | 2 REB | 2 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 10 PTS | 0
Siva entered the game shooting 1-for-9 on 3-pointers this season. He shot 3-for-4 from beyond the arc tonight, all three makes coming on pick-and-rolls. On two, the Hawks went way under and made no effort to recover. On the other, they hedged and then quickly left Siva wide open. If Siva can consistently make opponents pay for that type of defense, that would go a looong way toward making him a viable NBA guard and forcing teams to guard him like he is one.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope23 MIN | 3-10 FG | 0-0 FT | 3 REB | 0 AST | 3 STL | 1 BLK | 0 TO | 6 PTS | +5
Caldwell-Pope had a putback and dunked twice. He just missed everything else. Credit Caldwell-Pope for generating dunk attempts, especially one where he knifed through a supposedly set Atlanta defense. Plus, he defended really well.
Josh SmithDNP LEFT KNEE INJURY
Smith missed the game due to knee tendinitis, and the Pistons won. Coincidence?
John LoyerA team mathematically eliminated from the playoffs should use an eight-man rotation and give DNP-CDs to a pair of rookies. Wait. That’s not right.