Paul George’s 21-point 4th quarter downs Pistons
64. 94. 100. Final. 82
In a game that was largely a defensive battle, the Pistons were in the game until the Pacers’ superstar Paul George exploded for 21 points in the fourth quarter. After Detroit made George frustrated for the majority of the game, along with the Pistons mediocre shooting, the Pacers separated from Detroit late for the win.
C. Jackson didn’t have a disappointing night according to the stat sheet, but didn’t run the offense as well as Jennings. Near the end of the third quarter, the Pacers went on a 14-2 run that was kept under control, perhaps by mere coincidence, once Jackson went to the bench. He struggled to get shots to fall on the night, and was shaken up when he landed awkwardly on his ankle with 2:20 to go in the fourth quarter. He stayed in to finish the game.. PG. Pistons. REGGIE JACKSON
KENTAVIOUS CALDWELL-POPE. B+. KCP made the only Piston 3-pointer in the first half out of the team’s 11 attempts. The make wasn’t indicative of his overall success from behind the arc as he finished 1-for-6. He kept the Pistons close with his clutch shooting until George went on a run all by himself. He earned his first double-double on the season as well with 16 points and 10 rebounds.. SG. Pistons
Johnson didn’t make much impact with his shooting at first, but proved that he is a valuable distributor at his position. He had two smart bounce passes to Aron Baynes and provided a boost off the bench in the beginning of the fourth quarter that the Pistons needed to stay within striking distance.. SF. Pistons. STANLEY JOHNSON. B
Pistons. MARCUS MORRIS. B. Morris started off cold, shooting 2-for-8 from the floor. He made two fade away jumpers at the end of the quarter right in the face of Paul George for some momentum going into the final 12 minutes. Morris and George battled intensely, even after the whistle as Morris pushed George for unnecessarily going for a steal when the game was already over.. SF
B+. Drummond had no problem grabbing rebounds in the first half, but had trouble scoring off of offensive rebounds and in the post, missing three of his five attempts. He finished with 11 points and 18 rebounds, struggling from the line by making one out of eight shots from the charity stripe.. C. Pistons. ANDRE DRUMMOND
B+. Baynes started off hot, 3-for-3 with eight points in his first five minutes of action, as he was a bright spot off the bench with his 10 points.. C. Pistons. ARON BAYNES
B-. Ilyasova had the best first half out of the Pistons with eight points and five rebounds. He also proved to be valuable in help defense, especially when the Pacers had the ball near the baseline. His second half was less impressive, as he finished with 12 points and seven rebounds.. PF. Pistons. ERSAN ILYASOVA
BRANDON JENNINGS. B+. Jennings started the game with a headband and quickly took it off at the next break. The change must’ve helped as he led the Pistons to regain the lead until he was substituted for Jackson in the second quarter. He still made errors like getting a shot blocked or making a sloppy pass, but even the best of them do that, and he played better than Jackson, but played 10 less minutes.. PG. Pistons
Head Coach. Pistons. STAN VAN GUNDY. B. Van Gundy had a great defensive plan, especially for keeping Paul George in check, forcing him to commit seven turnovers. He also subbed in Jennings perfectly when the offense needed a change of pace. He was ejected for feverishly arguing a non-call in the final minute of the game.