Detroit Pistons sink Bucks to move above .500
By Ricky LaBlue
Coming into tonight, I was a little worried about this game. Historically, Detroit has played down to opponents. That wasn’t the case tonight.
91. 89. 102. 64. Final
Thanks to some hot three point shooting, especially in the first half, the Detroit Pistons cruised to their second win over the Bucks this season. Detroit shot 12-30 from beyond the arc and 42 percent from the field overall.
Marcus Morris lead the way for the Pistons, scoring 20 points on 8-14 shooting. Morris made some really nice shots in this game, including a couple in the fourth quarter to keep the Bucks from getting to close. The Pistons played some solid defense in this game, forcing 21 turnovers and recording 13 steals.
The win pushes Detroit to 30-29, just half of a game out of eighth place and the Chicago Bulls. It’s Detroit’s third win in a row.
Pistons. REGGIE JACKSON. B+. Jackson played very well tonight. He was 6-10 from the field and 9-10 from the free throw line. The more free throws for Jackson, the better. The Pistons need him to be aggressive, and he was tonight. He also finished with eight assists and just two turnovers.. PG
SG. Pistons. KENTAVIOUS CALDWELL-POPE. C-. Caldwell-Pope was rather pedestrian tonight. Khris Middleton went off for 26 points and KCP didn’t do enough offensively to make up for that. They got the win, and he always plays hard, but it was a forgettable game for Caldwell-Pope.
MARCUS MORRIS. A-. Talk about efficient. Morris made some big shots down the stretch and took care of the ball. Antetokounmpo isn’t that great of a defender and Morris took advantage. When Morris is rolling, the Pistons offense rolls too.. SF. Pistons
TOBIAS HARRIS. B. Harris might not have lit up the scoreboard, but he did a good enough job on both ends of the floor. I liked how he distributed in a little in the fourth quarter, and Harris did finish with four assists. Harris has played pretty well since coming to Detroit, and they’ll need him to keep it up.. PF. Pistons
ANDRE DRUMMOND. B+. Drummond owned the paint and kept Milwaukee in check down low. Neither Plumleee or Monroe did much tonight, while Drummond grabbed 17 rebounds and notched his 50th double-double of the season. I always like it when Drummond plays alert and in tune with the game.. C. Pistons
C. Baynes didn’t do much tonight. He shot 1-5 from the floor and only grabbed five rebounds. Baynes does provide solid minutes off the bench normally, but didn’t really jump off the screen tonight.. C. Pistons. ARON BAYNES
D-. Blake missed all of his attempts tonight. He’s just not good enough anymore to get NBA minutes. The Pistons really need better production off the bench at point guard, but Blake isn’t going to give it to him. If Blake continues to miss open threes like he did tonight, we might see Spencer Dinwiddie again.. PG. Pistons. STEVE BLAKE
Pistons. JUSTIN HARPER. Inc. Only a couple minutes again for Harper. Not enough to fairly judge him on.. PF
SG. Pistons. DARRUN HILLIARD II. B. Hilliard nailed two threes tonight, and even handled the ball a couple times. I think the more playing time he gets, the better he’s going to be. I’m really excited about Hilliard moving forward.
Pistons. REGGIE BULLOCK. B-. Bullock might be limited, but he gives solid minutes to Detroit. He spaces the floor and plays hard on defense.. SG
Head Coach. Pistons. STAN VAN GUNDY. A. The Pistons got off to a hot start and never looked back. They also moved the ball around better than they have all season. Van Gundy has done a good job getting this team to play selflessly and he’s found a nice one-two punch in Morris and Harris. Both players really play well off of each other. I also really liked Van Gundy’s substitutions, letting the starters play extended minutes in the first quarter.