The Detroit Pistons found fourth quarter magic again in Portland, beating the Trail Blazers 125-124 in a double overtime thriller.
The Detroit Pistons were in Portland, entering the fourth quarter down seven points. The Portland Trail Blazers had built their lead thanks to the play making of Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum and a lights-out shooting night from Allen Crabbe.
The scene was familiar.
The Pistons were in the same situation in November 2015, when Reggie Jackson led a furious Pistons comeback while tying a franchise-record for fourth quarter points. This time around, it took a little longer. Jackson scored nine points in the fourth quarter tonight, including a jumper that gave the Pistons a three point lead with 24 seconds to go. McCollum answered with a three pointer off an inbounds play to tie the game, and Jackson couldn’t match it on the final possession of regulation.
The first overtime mirrored the end of regulation. Jackson made consecutive shots to give the Pistons a three point lead with 24 seconds left. McCollum answered with a three pointer off an inbounds play. Jackson missed to send the game to a second overtime.
In the second overtime, the Pistons found a different source for its clutch shot making. Down five with under two minutes left, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope drained a three pointer to give the Pistons a chance. Two defensive stops later, the Pistons gave the Blazers a taste of their own medicine, freeing up Caldwell-Pope off an inbounds play for a three pointer that went in and gave the Pistons another late lead. This time, McCollum came up short on his game-winning attempt, and the Pistons snuck out of Portland with a 125-124 win.
Lost in all of the late game craziness was the impressive performance of Andre Drummond. Drummond took advantage of Portland’s lack of interior defense and was engaged from the first whistle to the last. Stan Van Gundy rewarded Drummond by playing him 52 minutes, including every second of the game after the 5:54 mark of the second quarter.
Drummond’s strong performance kept the Pistons within striking distance entering the fourth quarter, when the Detroit back court took over with clutch shot after clutch shot. That formula worked tonight, and it could be a formula that the Pistons lean on as they look to get back into the playoff picture in the Eastern Conference.