Player Grades: Pistons shock Rockets 114-109
By Ryan Love
The Detroit Pistons snuck out of Houston with a 114-109 win over the Rockets Friday night. Boban Marjanovic’s 27 points led the Pistons comeback victory.
The Detroit Pistons (36-43) stunned the Houston Rockets (53-26) Friday on a night that saw head coach Stan Van Gundy reach deep into his bench with great success.
Henry Ellenson got the start for the Pistons as Van Gundy sat Jon Leuer and Aron Baynes for the night. The energy from Ellenson, Boban Marjanovic, and Stanley Johnson led the Pistons to outscore the high-powered Rockets 39-22 in the fourth quarter.
“That’s where we won the game, with those guys,” Van Gundy said of his bench’s strong performance in his postgame interview.
Luckily for the Pistons the Rockets struggled from three throughout the night, making 16 of 51 three-pointers. Despite MVP-candidate James Harden‘s near triple-double (33 points, 12 assists, nine rebounds), the Pistons held all other Rockets scorers to 15 or fewer.
Van Gundy made it clear in his postgame interview that Ellenson, Marjanovic, and Stanley Johnson would continue to get 20-plus minutes for their last three games of the season. The Pistons still have a sliver of mathematical hope to sneak into the playoffs after Friday night, but it is clear that Van Gundy is writing that slim possibility off to experiment with his personnel going into the offseason.
A-. Piston Powered superstar Henry Ellenson shined on the offensive end in his first career start. Ellenson scored 15 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in 25 minutes. He was very active in the Pistons offense on nearly every possession, and only looked like a rookie on defense where he got burned a few times.. PF/C. Detroit Pistons. HENRY ELLENSON
C. <a rel=. SG. Detroit Pistons. KENTAVIOUS CALDWELL-POPE
C. Detroit Pistons. BOBAN MARJANOVIC. A-. Boban Marjanovic came off the bench to score a career-high 27 points to go with his 12 rebounds. While Marjanovic is often passed over due to his defensive lapses, he showed off his offensive prowess against a Rockets team that does not have the kind of player that can challenge his game.
Detroit Pistons. STANLEY JOHNSON. A-. Stanley Johnson saw significant playing time in clutch time against James Harden whom he had multiple key defensive plays against. Johnson scored 13 points, including a three-pointer that Stan Van Gundy called the most important shot of the game down the stretch late in the fourth quarter. Johnson played confidently for 31 minutes and was a team-best plus-21 off the bench.. SF
B+. <a rel=. PF. Detroit Pistons. TOBIAS HARRIS
B+. Although <a rel=. PG. Detroit Pistons. ISH SMITH
D+. <a rel=. C. Detroit Pistons. ANDRE DRUMMOND
INC. Despite starting the game, <a rel=. SF. Detroit Pistons. MARCUS MORRIS
The Pistons travel to Memphis on Sunday to take on the Grizzlies (43-37).