For the second straight road game, the Detroit Pistons have pulled off an upset, beating the Memphis Grizzles 103-90 in a game dominated by their bench and youth.
For the second straight game, Stan Van Gundy and the Detroit Pistons (37-43) dug deep into their bench. The strategy also paid off – and also failed at the same time – for the second road match-up, this time against the Memphis Grizzles (43-38).
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With the Pistons officially out of the 2016-17 NBA playoffs, the move has been giving younger players such as Henry Ellenson, Reggie Bullock and Stanley Johnson a chance for an extended amount of playing time in recent games.
Van Gundy had also announced prior to tip-off that he would be playing Marcus Morris “only in an emergency”, as well as resting Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. The latter move allowed backup shooting guard Darrun Hilliard to play 21 minutes, his most since the team’s 127-107 loss to the Golden State Warriors in January.
Despite their early struggles, the Pistons were able to overcome a 12-point deficit in the early third quarter thanks to multiple turnovers by the Grizzlies. Bullock eventually gave Detroit their first lead of the half with a triple later in the quarter and never looked back.
They went on to outscore Memphis 55-33 in the second half.
The Grizzlies, who have already secured the seventh seed in the playoffs for the Western Conference and were resting Zach Randolph, struggled defensively against Detroit. Memphis had a subpar -65 plus/minus rating against the Pistons, -20 of which came from Wayne Selden (five points, two assists, one rebound in 27 minutes of playing time).
They also allowed Detroit to make 14 of their 28 three-point attempts, seven of which came in the fourth quarter.
Despite playing sloppy on the offensive end at times – they had 18 turnovers compared to the Grizzlies’ 15 – the Pistons also were able to make the most out of many of their offensive chances. Boban Marjanovic and Reggie Bullock led the way for them, recording 14 points each. Marjanovic also had 10 rebounds in the win.
To some, including NBA blog and news website Sixteen Wins a Ring, their performances left them stunned:
With the win, the Pistons are starting to catch fire at the most worst time in some people’s eyes – when the team should be focusing on trying to get a better draft pick now that they are not making the playoffs this season.
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“It only hurt them (the Pistons) today,” said Grizzlies analyst and The Ringer’s Chris Vernon during the team’s post-game show. “It only means less ping pong balls for them.”
The Pistons return home for their final game at the Palace of Auburn Hills tomorrow night against the Washington Wizards.