Pistons notch OT win behind career-high 37 points from Marcus Morris
The Detroit Pistons swept their season series with the Portland Trailblazers, winning 120-113 behind a career-high 37 points from Marcus Morris.
There’s just something about the Portland Trailblazers that brings out the Detroit Pistons flair for the dramatic.
First there was November 2015’s epic fourth quarter comeback. Then there was January’s double-overtime thriller. Then, on Tuesday night, Detroit completed the season sweep against the Blazers, winning 120-113 in a wild game capped by Marcus Morris and Ish Smith outscoring Portland 11-4 in overtime.
Morris was absolutely filthy for the Pistons, notching eight rebounds and six assists to go along with his career-high 37 points. Andre Drummond added 19 points and 15 assists, while the always clutch Kentavious Caldwell-Pope added 16 points after a quiet start.
Damian Lillard (39 points) and C.J. McCollum (25 points) led the way for the Blazers.
It was a familiar formula for the Pistons: fall behind early, scratch and claw back into the mix during the middle quarters, then mount a furious comeback in the fourth. With eight minutes remaining in regulation, they pulled ahead, 87-85, for their first lead since 2-0.
After that, madness ensued.
The two teams went back and forth for the remainder of the fourth quarter. Detroit led by as many as eight, 104-96, with 4:26 remaining. The Blazers forced Stan Van Gundy to pull Drummond around the four-minute mark, then took advantage of his absence with an 11-1 run to tie the game at 105. Marcus Morris matched two Jusef Nurkic free throws, then Caldwell-Pope hit a clutch 16-footer to give the Pistons the lead, 109-107.
With ten seconds remaining, Caldwell-Pope missed a 15-footer and was hit with a technical for complaining about the lack of a foul called on the play. Lillard missed the technical free throw, and his layup with two seconds remaining only tied the game instead of giving Portland the lead.
Marcus Morris missed a potential game-winning fallaway, but more than made up for it by scoring Detroit’s first seven points in overtime. Ish Smith notched two clutch steals and hit two mid-range jumpers to seal the deal.
After a horrific shooting start, Detroit finished 43.3 percent from the field. The Blazers, who led by as many as 14 in the first quarter, shot 54.2 percent.
Starting point guard Reggie Jackson spelled Ish Smith with 6:50 remaining in the fourth quarter and played well offensively, setting Andre Drummond up with a clutch alley-oop to give Detroit a 102-94 lead. But after stringing together a series of poor defensive possessions, he was pulled along with Drummond later in the fourth.
Jackson, the starter, was -9 with ten points and four assists. Smith, the closer, was +16 with 12 points, seven assists and seven steals.
The Pistons travel to face the New Orleans Pelicans at 8 p.m. tomorrow night.
REGGIE JACKSON. C. Reggie Jackson struggled early with a few turnovers and shot poorly overall: 4-for-12 from the field and 0-for-4 from 3-point range. But he wasn’t horrible. He came back after his first rest and made some good reads in the second quarter, and the Pistons ball movement was very good as a result. For what it’s worth, he had a +3 rating in his short fourth quarter stint. Unfortunately, Portland abused him in the pick-and-roll, forcing Stan Van Gundy to pull him in favor of Smith.. PG. Detroit Pistons
Detroit Pistons. KENTAVIOUS CALDWELL-POPE. B+. Say it with me, folks: Pay. That. Man. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope more than made up for his quiet first half (only four shots) with his clutch shooting down the stretch. He finished with 16 points, three assists and three huge steals down the stretch.. SG
Detroit Pistons. MARCUS MORRIS. A+. The Mid-Range Magician was at his best on Tuesday night. Marcus Morris carried the Pistons offense in the first half and stayed hot all night, abusing poor <a rel=. SF
<a rel=. PF. Detroit Pistons. JON LEUER. D
Andre Drummond was a big part of Detroit’s terrible first quarter. He started 2-for-7 from the field, was abused by Jusef Nurkic and fell into early foul trouble. But he ignited Detroit on both ends of the floor by dominating the glass in the second quarter and was active throughout, finishing two monster alley oops before his exit in the fourth quarter. He finished with a solid 19 points, 15 rebounds, an assist and a steal.. C. Detroit Pistons. ANDRE DRUMMOND. B
B+. With Jackson playing fine offensively and Smith putting up modest numbers in the first half, it didn’t seem like it was going to be another big game for Ish Smith. But all that changed in the fourth quarter, when he heated up quick playing the role of the closer. His highlights included an awesome steal-assist-block sequence in the same 40 seconds, as well as a behind-the-back dish leading to a <a rel=. PG. Detroit Pistons. ISH SMITH
STANLEY JOHNSON. B. Crunch time Stanley! Johnson finished with only six points, but those two 3-pointers–one in the fourth quarter and one late in the first–both came at huge moments for Detroit. He also added seven rebounds, an assist and two steals, continuing his strong play off the bench for the Pistons.. SF. Detroit Pistons
B-. Tobias Harris was somehow a team-high +23 in this game while only scoring 11 points.. PF. Detroit Pistons. TOBIAS HARRIS
B-. <a rel=. C. Detroit Pistons. ARON BAYNES
B+. Stan Van Gundy’s decision to pull both Andre Drummond and Reggie Jackson in the fourth quarter was probably the right one. He was also smart to sit Leuer and play Johnson down the stretch, and the plays he ran for Caldwell-Pope were especially well-timed in this game. Overall, smart game management. For a month or two now, the Pistons, despite their bad habits, have shown remarkable resilience to fight back (and often win) games after falling into sizable deficits. I think Van Gundy deserves some credit for that, too.. Head Coach. Detroit Pistons. STAN VAN GUNDY