Pistons fall to lowly Knicks, out of playoff position
By Tim Thielke
The Pistons were outshot by the Knicks to the tune of an incredible 53%-39% deficit. While they outplayed New York in most other facets of the game, that was just far too much to overcome.
Final. 102. 27. 89. 64
The Pistons did rally to within four midway through the fourth quarter. But even without Porzingis, the Knicks were able to pull away. Between the Pistons’ loss and the Bulls’ win, the Pistons have fallen to the ninth seed in the East.
Jackson was the chief culprit in the Pistons’ ice cold shooting night. After hitting his first two attempts, he got just one of the next fifteen. He also forced some bad passes. About the only thing he did well was his defense. And against Calderon, that just doesn’t count for much.. PG. Pistons. REGGIE JACKSON. F
SG. Pistons. KENTAVIOUS CALDWELL-POPE. D-. Caldwell-Pope actually stayed on Afflalo pretty well, though you wouldn’t know it from the box score. But his defense was nothing exceptional and he got outplayed on both ends by his inferior counterpart.
F-. Morris looked like the worst player on the floor most of the night.. SF. Pistons. MARCUS MORRIS
Pistons. TOBIAS HARRIS. B+. Tobias Harris was one of few Pistons not to struggle in this one. He was driving, passing, shooting, drawing contact, and defending. He looks like he will pull away as the Pistons’ third best player and may even have a shot at climbing higher in the pecking order.. SF
C. Pistons. ANDRE DRUMMOND. A-. Drummond had a good game, but it wasn’t as good as his phenomenal stat line. Especially early in the game when Robin Lopez asserted himself at will and Drummond was dropping easy lobs and turning the ball over. To his credit, he really picked up his play as the game went on, though.
A. Steve Blake outplayed every other point guard in this game. Not that he was incredible, but that is still not a statement I expected to ever be true this year.. PG. Pistons. STEVE BLAKE
D. Baynes did nothing useful outside of garbage time.. C. Pistons. ARON BAYNES
D. In Hilliard’s first eight games since he became a regular part of the rotation, he shot 20-35, raising Pistons’ fans’ hopes–or at least mine. Since then, he is 7-29. It is probably time to realize that the former was a mirage and he really isn’t much of a prospect.. SG. Pistons. DARRUN HILLIARD II
B+. In stark contrast to Hilliard, Reggie Bullock looks to be proving he really does bring something to the table. In the last five games, he is averaging 9, 3, 1, and a steal on 55/56/75 splits. Expect his role to mostly disappear as Johnson and possibly Meeks rejoin the rotation, but he is provifing some quality depth.. SG. Pistons. REGGIE BULLOCK
D-. Harper was pretty much invisible in this game.. PF. Pistons. JUSTIN HARPER
Pistons. STAN VAN GUNDY. B. I though Van Gundy made good rotation decisions. He coaxed plenty of effort out of the Pistons (although Drummond’s was lacking for most of the first quarter) There’s nothing he could do about Morris and Jackson completely losing their ability to put the ball in the hole... Head Coach