Detroit Pistons complete comeback, win thriller in Portland
By Matthew Way
The Detroit Pistons found fourth quarter magic again in Portland, beating the Trail Blazers 125-124 in a double overtime thriller.
The Detroit Pistons were in Portland, entering the fourth quarter down seven points. The Portland Trail Blazers had built their lead thanks to the play making of Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum and a lights-out shooting night from Allen Crabbe.
The scene was familiar.
The Pistons were in the same situation in November 2015, when Reggie Jackson led a furious Pistons comeback while tying a franchise-record for fourth quarter points. This time around, it took a little longer. Jackson scored nine points in the fourth quarter tonight, including a jumper that gave the Pistons a three point lead with 24 seconds to go. McCollum answered with a three pointer off an inbounds play to tie the game, and Jackson couldn’t match it on the final possession of regulation.
The first overtime mirrored the end of regulation. Jackson made consecutive shots to give the Pistons a three point lead with 24 seconds left. McCollum answered with a three pointer off an inbounds play. Jackson missed to send the game to a second overtime.
In the second overtime, the Pistons found a different source for its clutch shot making. Down five with under two minutes left, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope drained a three pointer to give the Pistons a chance. Two defensive stops later, the Pistons gave the Blazers a taste of their own medicine, freeing up Caldwell-Pope off an inbounds play for a three pointer that went in and gave the Pistons another late lead. This time, McCollum came up short on his game-winning attempt, and the Pistons snuck out of Portland with a 125-124 win.
Lost in all of the late game craziness was the impressive performance of Andre Drummond. Drummond took advantage of Portland’s lack of interior defense and was engaged from the first whistle to the last. Stan Van Gundy rewarded Drummond by playing him 52 minutes, including every second of the game after the 5:54 mark of the second quarter.
Drummond’s strong performance kept the Pistons within striking distance entering the fourth quarter, when the Detroit back court took over with clutch shot after clutch shot. That formula worked tonight, and it could be a formula that the Pistons lean on as they look to get back into the playoff picture in the Eastern Conference.
B. Reggie Jackson led the Pistons in scoring with 31 points, 14 of which came in the fourth quarter or overtime. Jackson was a calming presence in the clutch when the team was scuffling, and was a key component to the Pistons comeback victory. He lost his man quite a few times defensively, though, including on C.J. McCollum’s shot to send the game to double overtime.. PG. Detroit Pistons. REGGIE JACKSON
A. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope showed up in a big way, scoring 26 points on only 14 shots, including the game-winning three pointer in double overtime. Caldwell-Pope’s defense was key in the fourth quarter and overtime, where he was active in help defense on top of consistently denying Damian Lillard the ball. Lillard’s disappearance late in the game was key to the Pistons victory, and Caldwell-Pope deserves a lot of credit for that.. SG. Detroit Pistons. KENTAVIOUS CALDWELL-POPE
C-. <a rel=. SF. Detroit Pistons. MARCUS MORRIS
Inc.. <a rel=. PF. Detroit Pistons. JON LEUER
A. Andre Drummond played one of his best games as a Piston, scoring 28 points on 13-for-20 shooting in a variety of ways. He added 14 rebounds and worked hard on the defensive end. Drummond was constantly in passing lanes, leading to four steals, and his defensive rotations were much crisper than normal. Portland had absolutely no answer for him tonight.. C. Detroit Pistons. ANDRE DRUMMOND
B-. <a rel=. SF. Detroit Pistons. STANLEY JOHNSON
D. <a rel=. C. Detroit Pistons. AARON BAYNES
ISH SMITH. C+. <a rel=. PG. Detroit Pistons
TOBIAS HARRIS. C+. <a rel=. PF. Detroit Pistons
Inc.. Coming off a career night, <a rel=. C. Detroit Pistons. BOBAN MARJANOVIC
Stan Van Gundy had the Pistons ready tonight. The team played hard and battled through a tough first three quarters where it seemed like every shot Portland put up was going in. Van Gundy leaned on Stanley Johnson for defense late in the fourth quarter and overtime, and it proved wise. Going small with Johnson helped the defensive rotations and the Pistons got just enough stops. Van Gundy does have to take some blame for the Blazers’ four easy inbound baskets, two of which were the game-tying baskets at the end of regulation and the first overtime.. Head Coach. Detroit Pistons. STAN VAN GUNDY. B