Detroit Pistons win fourth straight with blowout of Los Angeles Lakers
20. Final. 111. 64. 91
While the fans packed The Palace to see Lakers’ star Kobe Bryant one last time, it was the Pistons who put on a show. Detroit exacted revenge on the lowly Lakers — who beat the Pistons 97-85 last month — with an 20-point beat down. It was the Pistons’ fourth-straight win, pushing them to 12-9.
Here are the grades:
B+. Jackson’s strongest stretch of the season continued against the Lakers’ defensively-challenged back court. He made good decisions, he hit shots and only turned the ball over twice. He’ll be faced with a radically different challenge on Monday with Kemba Walker.. PG. Pistons. REGGIE JACKSON
When the jumper isn’t falling, just drive to the rim over and over and over. That’s exactly what KCP did tonight, scoring a season-best 22 points. The 4 rebounds, 4 steals and 2 assists weren’t bad, either. SG. Pistons. KENTAVIOUS CALDWELL-POPE. A-
After a pair of really strong games, Morris wasn’t quite as good tonight. He didn’t shoot all that well, despite being matched up with smaller guards all night, and didn’t do much else. He did, rather quickly, end Nick Young’s little scuffle after being fouled by Anthony Tolliver. Morris isn’t one to mess with.. SF. Pistons. MARCUS MORRIS. C
A-. The two quick fouls weren’t ideal, but Drummond made easy work of whatever is left of Roy Hibbert. He grabbed 15 boards and scored 18 points in 25 minutes, and he played one of those games where — despite his impact — you almost don’t see it happen because it’s not flashy. But it sure is effective.. C. Pistons. ANDRE DRUMMOND
C-. He made a triple to open the game and that was about it. Foul trouble hurt him, and he was outplayed by Tolliver, thus, the limited minutes and impact.. PF. Pistons. ERSAN ILYASOVA
Johnson had free reign to shoot tonight and he missed, a lot. The 2-for-10 shooting isn’t pretty, but his defense was good and he also grabbed six rebounds. He still played a big part in the bench’s success.. SF. Pistons. STANLEY JOHNSON. C
C. Pistons. ARON BAYNES. C. It looked like he may have been a bit bothered by the Rip Hamilton mask, but Baynes played ok overall. He needs to make those shots in close, but he’s rebounding, defending well enough and setting screens, which is basically why he’s out there.
PF. Pistons. ANTHONY TOLLIVER. B. The shooting cooled as the game went on, but Tolliver played a tough game. He hit some shots from deep, he grabbed 13 rebounds and handled Nick Young’s hissy fit in the best way possible — by laughing at him as Morris engulfed him to avoid further conflict.
B+. The best player off the bench tonight had to be Blake, playing against one of his roughly 104 former teams. You can see the parts of Blake’s game (vision, passing, perimeter shooting) that made him a great role player for so long, but you can also see an old guy who doesn’t have the legs to do it consistently.. PG. Pistons. STEVE BLAKE
Darrun Hilliard — C: The rookie got six minutes of garbage time tonight after playing really well in the Drive game last night. He made a 3, and took basically every shot he could.
STAN VAN GUNDY. A-. You’ve probably heard, but one of my biggest little complaints about the Pistons over the past two seasons is their inability to consistently beat the NBA’s slop. Well, after an embarrassing loss to the Lakers last month, the Pistons made quick work of them this time around. It helps that Kobe Bryant shoots them out of (most) games, but the Pistons took advantage of one of the NBA’s worst defenses. Things could have gotten interesting with Drummond, Ilyasova and Caldwell-Pope all battling early foul trouble, but Van Gundy went to the bench and the group rolled.. Head Coach. Pistons