Detroit Pistons: Top five moments from the Stan Van Gundy era

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SAN ANTONIO, TX – JANUARY 6: Brandon Jennings #7 of the Detroit Pistons handles the ball against the San Antonio Spurs at the AT&T Center on January 6, 2015 in San Antonio, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2014 NBAE (Photos by D. Clarke Evans/NBAE via Getty Images) /

January 6, 2015: Brandon Jennings’ game-winning runner leads Pistons past Spurs

Like many of these moments, this one can’t be appreciated without fully understanding the context in which it took place.

Remember the Pistons’ 5-23 start to begin the 2014-15 season? That coincided with Josh Smith being released just a few weeks prior to this game.

And while Detroit was on a five-game winning streak, those aforementioned wounds were still fresh when Brandon Jennings did this.

Jennings’ ball-dominant style had paid off.

San Antonio screwed up an in-bounds on their own end of the floor. Tim Duncan‘s pass to Patty Mills was behind him, glazing off the guard’s fingertips. Drummond came away with the loose ball, whose outlet went to Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.

Caldwel-Pope then flipped it to Jennings, who took the ball to the left block and released an off-balanced floater as time expired.

Bank. Buzzer. Ball game.

Detroit’s bench rushed the floor, and celebrated one of the finer moments in an otherwise forgettable season. The Pistons squeaked by the defending champions, 105-104, on the road.

Bonus: This game also gave us a classic Stan Van Gundy line.

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