Detroit Pistons win despite blowing 28 point lead
The Detroit Pistons led by as much as 28 points against the Houston Rockets, before blowing much of their lead in the third and early part of the fourth quarter. Luckily, the Pistons were able to string together a strong fourth quarter to seal the victory.
64. 105. 169. Final. 116
The Pistons blew double digit leads in their last two games against the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Brooklyn Nets. That trend continued tonight, but at least they were able to pull out a win tonight thanks to a stronger defensive effort and better shot selection late in the game.
Here are the grades:
A+. Jackson bounced back in a big way tonight. He had 17 points on 7-11 shooting go along with three assists in the first half alone. In the fourth he was even more impressive scoring 14 points.<p>Jackson would finish with 31 points, eight assists, two steals, and just two turnovers.</p>. PG. Pistons. REGGIE JACKSON
KENTAVIOUS CALDWELL-POPE. B+. <a href=. SG. Pistons
B. Sort of a quiet night from Morris, who also had an injury scare after bumping into Drummond on a loose ball. He finished with 12 points on 5-11 shooting, but had a nice game overall with four rebounds and six assists. He also had a pair of nice offensive put backs.. SF. Pistons. MARCUS MORRIS
Pistons. ANDRE DRUMMOND. A. Andre got into foul trouble early, but did a good job avoiding picking up any more unnecessary fouls the rest of the way. Unfortunately, he couldn’t avoid the Rockets fouling him. The Rockets primary strategy on defense in the third quarter was to foul Drummond. It worked, as he went 4-15 from the charity strip.<p>Van Gundy wanted Drummond to be able to play and make an impact–and to that point in the third quarter, he had been playing well on both sides of the ball. It’s a shame he can’t improve his free throw shooting–it took him out of the game.</p><p>Luckily Drummond wasn’t put on the foul line much in the fourth and he was able to dominate on both sides of the ball. His rebounding and defense was fantastic when he came back in. He finished with three steals, three blocks, along with 24 points (10-15 from the field, 4-18 from the free throw line) and 13 rebounds before being pulled by Van Gundy when the Rockets decided to hack-a-Drummond. </p>. C
Johnson had a huge performance off of the bench scoring 19 points including 4-5 from distance. He also added 10 rebounds, two blocks, and one steal. It was only a matter of time before he started knocking down the good looks he’s been getting.. SF. Pistons. STANLEY JOHNSON. A-
B. Baynes got some extended minutes tonight due to the poor free throw shooting from Drummond and played well, scoring 11 points and adding four rebounds. . C. Pistons. ARON BAYNES
C. Tolliver only saw the court for 11 minutes tonight, but did manage to get a bucket and pull down three rebounds. . PF. Pistons. ANTHONY TOLLIVER
5-11 for 13 points to go along with three rebounds and a block. Like most nights, Ilyasova did most of his damage in the first half. . PF. Pistons. ERSAN ILYASOVA. B
PG. Pistons. STEVE BLAKE. D. Blake was ineffective in his 11 minutes of action.
C. The Pistons let a 28 point lead get cut to four points thanks to a third quarter run by the Rockets that seeped into the early part of the fourth. That’s inexcusable, especially with the way the Pistons were playing in the first half. The Pistons’ players let up defensively in the third and they settled for shots on offense (of course, Drummond’s free throw shooting certainly didn’t help). That’s on Van Gundy to get his player’s minds right, though he did make an attempt to rally the troops when the Pistons’ lead dipped under 20 for the first time in second half.<p>The Pistons may have won tonight, but this is the third time in three games they’ve let a double digit lead evaporate. Sure this is a young team and this is part of the learning curve, but this is a trend that can’t continue to happen. </p>. Head Coach. Pistons. STAN VAN GUNDY