Detroit Pistons make clutch shots down the stretch to beat Magic, move closer to playoffs
By Ricky LaBlue
The magic number for the Pistons is now one.
Final. 104. 38. 108. 64
In a game the Pistons’ needed to win in order to solidify their playoff hopes, Detroit battled back in the fourth quarter thanks to a clutch three from Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and some good free throw shooting. The win drops the Pistons’ magic number at one, although thanks to a Pacers win over the Cavaliers, Detroit remains in the eighth seed.
Detroit had a great night beyond the arc, shooting 11-27. Orlando didn’t have as much luck, hitting just 4-15.
REGGIE JACKSON. B. Jackson scored a game-high 24 points on 7-18 shooting. He did cough it up three times, but did a great job of getting to the rim and drawing contact. The rest of the team struggled from the free throw line, but Jackson hit 9-11. . PG. Pistons
B+. Caldwell-Pope ended up being the “X-Factor” in this game, scoring 18 points on just 10 shots. His three to take the lead int he fourth quarter was huge and Victor Oladipo only scored 16 points on 5-13 shooting.. SG. Pistons. KENTAVIOUS CALDWELL-POPE
SF. Pistons. MARCUS MORRIS. D. I expected Morris to make up for his abysmal performance against Miami, but he didn’t. Just 3-11 from the field and 1-4 from three and three turnovers. Morris had the worst plus/minus tonight of the start five and it showed on the court. Evan Fournier also had a good night, dropping a team-high 19 points.
Pistons. . B. Harris had a solid night against his former team, scoring 13 points on 5-11 shooting. He did find himself in a little big of foul trouble, but grabbed seven rebounds and finished with a plus/minus of +10, the highest of the starting five.<br />Drummond had a big block early against Nikola Vucevic, and displayed the energy you want to see. He shot 5-11 from the field, but grabbed 16 rebound, five of those on the offensive glass. He also kept Vucevic in check, who had been on a tear since he returned from injury.. PF
C. Baynes hit four of five shots, which is more than we usually see offensively, but that was about it. He didn’t anything on the offensive glass and didn’t bring much defensively. Kind of a mixed bag tonight.. C. Pistons. ARON BAYNES
If Tolliver is only going to hit 1-4 from the three, then his impact will continue to be minimal. He’s not a rebounder and doesn’t offer much defensively. He also finished with the worst plus-minus on the team at -6.. PF. Pistons. ANTHONY TOLLIVER. D
He might not have done much scoring, but Blake dished out six assists and really facilitated the ball well. It helped that Bullock had a great night next to him, but if Blake can distribute the ball like that more often, this Pistons’ bench will impact the game more.. PG. Pistons. STEVE BLAKE. B
B+. Bullock can really shoot it sometimes, and tonight was one of those nights. He went 5-9 from the floor, made three three-pointers and had six assists. Tonight was about as much as you can expect from Bullock. Hopefully, this is a sign of things to come once the playoffs start.. SG. Pistons. REGGIE BULLOCK
B-. Bullock played really well tonight but I would’ve like to see Stanley Johnson get minutes. Morris didn’t play well at all and Johnson’s defense might’ve helped against the Magic’s scorers. That said. it was nice to see Bullock get extended minutes. He definitely earned them tonight. . Head Coach. Pistons. STAN VAN GUNDY