Brandon Knight’s 26 Leads Detroit Pistons Past Jennings’ Bucks

They came. They saw. And by golly wow, the Detroit Pistons conquered a hot Milwaukee Bucks team led by one of the hottest players in the league right now. What helped the Pistons could be attributed to a variety of things. One huge characteristic of the game was that after playing in a come-from-behind win against the Miami Heat, Brandon Jennings seemed to do exactly what LeBron James did against the Bucks just a few days ago.

James scored 26 points in the first half and then came back in the second half of the game to score 14. His early efforts were appreciated and undervalued and Coach Erik Spoelstra snatched him out of the game and made him less a part of Miami’s offense as if the job was finished. This resulted in a Miami loss and another debate of whether or not LBJ can cut it in the last two minutes of the game.

Brandon Jennings finished the game with 20 points, 13 in the first quarter and seven throughout the rest of the game. This time it was the opposing team’s point guard who could highly tout the award of refusing a single turnover in a game. Plainly stated, Knight played his tail off in ways that only Coach Lawrence Frank could hope he continues to do throughout the season.

What was so impressive about the rookie in Detroit’s Friday night win over Milwaukee was that Knight was able to recognize his faults towards the beginning of the season and mold himself adequately to fit what his team needed.

“I just remember not coming with a lot of energy, not lifting my teammates up,” Knight said. “Me, as a rookie, that’s something I’ve got to be able to do each and every game, no matter who we’re playing against.”

Knight scored a season-high 26 points, and an aforementioned zero turnovers, as the Pistons seemed to get a little bit of their swagger back. They were playing like a franchise with something to lose and even more of something to prove.

There is never anything wrong with clawing for respect and the Pistons forced themselves on the Bucks to let it be known that they would not be the ones to come across and relax. It was inspiring to say the least. But, don’t be fooled. Knight’s performance may have highlighted the night, but there were definitely other Detroit players on the floor stepping up in a major way.

The telltale sign that the Pistons are attempting to bring their sunken ship back to the surface is the perimeter defense they displayed. They only allowed Milwaukee 3-of-17 three-point shooting, something Detroit has struggled with stopping for the season thus far.

Things seemed a little brighter in the city. It was a beautiful day in the neighborhood. Greg Monroe was back to his scoring ways adding 19 points and 11 rebounds to the pot like any other big body would do coming up the middle strong.

We could nitpick at the things the Pistons may have done wrong, but right now just relish.

Relish in the fact that the Pistons have something to celebrate short term. After such a long losing skid, they deserve a confidence booster and a win against the Milwaukee Bucks is not taken as lightly as it may have been before. The Bucks are contenders, with flaws, but contenders nonetheless.

The Pistons are pushing for something better than they have had before and Friday night’s game shows that there may be hope. There may be a chance for the Pistons to fix things before they go too far down the drain. Charisma goes a long way and confidence pushes a franchise even further. The talent is there. Hopefully, this win over the Bucks will give the Detroit Pistons the attitude.