The Detroit Pistons’ bench exploded to trounce the Milwaukee Bucks on the second night of their back to back. We’re going to avoid the player grades for a night to take more of a look at the game itself.
To start the game for the Detroit Pistons, James Ennis was moved to the starting lineup while Stanley Johnson was moved to the bench. This proved to be the right move for multiple reasons.
James Ennis himself didn’t have a good shooting night, hitting two of his six shots, neither of his two three pointers. But his extra length, and the threat of the deep ball, kept the defense more honest than with Johnson on the arc. Ennis’ defense proved not be a giant step down from Johnson.
On the other side, Johnson had one of the best games of his career. Johnson had a plus-36 plus minus rating, which is absolutely spectacular. He had 19 points in 30 minutes, and top that off with six rebounds and four assists. His defense isn’t to be forgotten either. Before leaving the game with an eye injury, Giannis Antetokounmpo posted only 11 points with three rebounds and two assists, in only 30 minutes on the court.
Another bright spot tonight was Eric Moreland, who set career highs in all three main categories. He logged his first career double double with 10 points, 12 rebounds, and six assists. His performance spurred a run that put the game well out of reach.
The team, as a whole, played great. The defense was impenetrable, and the rebounding was unsustainably good. After the first quarter, which the teams tied, the Pistons outscored the Bucks in every quarter. Insanely, the Bucks didn’t score a single field goal in the fourth until the reserves came in with three minutes left. That’s NINE MINUTES with only two points coming from free throws.
To be a bit of a downer, the most prevalent difference between the teams is unsustainable. The rebounds, which were in Detroit’s favor 57 to 35. To specify, the offensive rebounds of which Detroit had 22 of while Milwaukee had only six.
It probably isn’t smart to assume that our bench performance will be as great. Detroit’s bench outscored Milwaukee 63-30, a 33 point differential, the main scorers being Johnson, Langston Galloway, Dwight Buycks, and Eric Moreland.
This game reminded us that there is still something to be excited about with this team. It may not come this year, but it should be worth taking another drink of the Detroit kool-aid next year. Look forward to Reggie Jackson returning to 100 percent, Blake Griffin having a whole offseason with the team, and the core meshing even more.