Detroit Pistons blow out Miami Heat 104-81
The Detroit Pistons followed up their blowout loss to the Milwaukee Bucks with a blowout win against the Miami Heat thanks to some sharp shooting and some stingy defense
104. 64. Final. 81. 110
The Miami Heat were 7-1 coming into tonight’s game and sported one of the top defenses in the NBA allowing less than 92 points per game. Tonight the Detroit Pistons–losers of two straight–dropped 104 on them with a lead as large as 28 points.
Here are the grades:
A. Jackson had his most efficient game of the season. He was 7-12 from the field, 4-5 from three (two of which were at the end of the shot clock with tight defense), and he had a seven assists to only one turnover. He also didn’t have any lapses on defense that we’ve seen from him at times.. PG. Pistons. REGGIE JACKSON
SG. Pistons. KENTAVIOUS CALDWELL-POPE. C. KCP may have been terrible on offense tonight (2-15), but he took mostly good shots, they just didn’t fall. What salvages his grade was his performance on defense. Dwyane Wade finished with just two points on 1-9 shooting
B. Marcus Morris can be frustrating at times. He’s a very talented player and capable of playing good defense and knocking down a high percentage of his shots. He just isn’t as consistent with his efficiency. Luckily tonight he was efficient on offense going 6-13 from the floor and even better on defense. Morris finished +30 on the night.. SF. Pistons. MARCUS MORRIS
Pistons. ERSAN ILYASOVA. B. Ilyasova had an above average game on both ends of the floor. He made 3-7 shots from the field (3-4 from three) and played Chris Bosh fairly well when he was on the court.. PF
A+. Drummond came out of the gate looking to dominate. He had eight points–on some solid defense from Hassan Whiteside–and four rebounds by the end of the first quarter. His first half was great. But in the second half, his energy came down quite a bit and his body language indicated that he was either tired or simply not into the game. Still, Drummond finished with 18 points, 20 rebounds, two steals, and five blocks without playing many minutes in the fourth quarter.. C. Pistons. ANDRE DRUMMOND
C-. After a solid start to the game, Johnson’s offense fell off in the second half. He’s still getting great looks and playing solid defense, but he hasn’t been able to get his shots to go down consistently. He even air balled a wide open jumper at the top of the key.. SF. Pistons. STANLEY JOHNSON
Pistons. ARON BAYNES. B+. Baynes rebounded, scored, and ran the court extremely well tonight. He finished with six points and five rebounds in 12 minutes of action.. C
DARRUN HILLIARD II. I. He didn’t play enough to warrant a grade, but his made three pointer was a thing of beauty.. SG. Pistons
Pistons. ANTHONY TOLLIVER. A. Tolliver was an assassin from three tonight, and his three first half three pointers were key to the Pistons large lead at the half. He finished with 12 points on 4-8 shooting (4-6 from downtown) . PF
PG. Pistons. STEVE BLAKE. F. He was bad. So bad that he dribbled the ball out of bounds as he made his way up the court.
I. . C. Pistons. JOEL ANTHONY
I. . SG. Pistons. REGGIE BULLOCK
Pistons. STAN VAN GUNDY. A. The Pistons could have easily came out tonight feeling sorry for themselves after their last two losses. Instead they jumped down the Heat’s throat from the get-go. Credit Van Gundy for having his team ready to play tonight. There’s not a better way to follow up a blowout loss, than with a blowout win against a quality opponent.. Head Coach