Detroit Pistons win despite early Andre Drummond injury

The Detroit Pistons were rocking their black uniforms that read ‘Motor City’ across the front as they welcomed the Miami Heat into Little Caesars Arena.

In a game that started so promising, the second half proved to be a pretty large hurdle. The Detroit Pistons made the best of a situation with Andre Drummond and took a win over the Heat

Dwayne Wade received a standing ovation from the Detroit Piston faithful as he entered his final game in Detroit with just under six minutes left in the first quarter. Somehow, Blake Griffin was able to ignore the roar and drain his final free throw.

First Quarter

The Pistons started off with the hot hand with Reggie Jackson hitting a runner to start the game and  Reggie Bullock nailing a pair from range before the first Detroit miss. It wouldn’t be long until Bullock drained another basket that was originally thought to be another three, but it was changed to a two after review.

With about five minutes left, Drummond went down hard after James Johnson landed an elbow on his face. Zaza Pachulia entered the game, and Drummond made his way to the locker room.

At the end of the quarter, both Drummond and Ish Smith were in the locker room dealing with injuries, and the Pistons held a 30-17 lead. Luke Kennard exploded for seven points over a four minute time span, and Griffin ended with 11 points. Radney McGruder led the Heat with five points.

Second Quarter

Kennard remained hot to start the quarter by hitting another three. With just over nine minutes left in the half, Stanley Johnson and Pachulia each had a steal, and Jose Calderon had two off the sloppy Miami offense.

With no Drummond, it became Griffin’s job to cover Hassan Whiteside when Pachulia was on the bench. During that time the Heat center did not score a single point. Wade, however, got into a groove and scored eight points in the late stages of the first half.

The Detroit Pistons held a 53-39 lead at half thanks to 16 points from Griffin, and 12 points from both Kennard and Bullock. Wade took a share of the Heat scoring lead alongside Justise Winslow with eight.

Third Quarter

It was announced at the beginning of the half that Drummond would not be returning to the game. Henry Ellenson and Jon Leuer were not healthy for the game, leaving no wiggle room between Griffin and Pachulia as the bigs.

Griffin came out of the locker room guns blazing, scoring eight points in under five minutes. Whiteside finally started taking advantage of Drummond’s absence by double his score totals in that same amount of time.

Defensively, the Detroit Pistons seemed unable to stop Wade. Add that to the inability to answer back offensively, and the Pistons ended the quarter losing 69-65. Per usual, Griffin was the bright spot with 26 points, eight rebounds and seven assists at quarter’d end.

Fourth Quarter

For the first time in the game, the Detroit Pistons were starting at a deficit. Kennard was on a mission to change that, scoring the first five points for the team, pulling them to within two early on.

The Pistons caught fire following a timeout early in the final quartter and found themselves with a three point lead with five minutes left. Jackson and Johnson each scored key buckets to lead the team to this point.

The game was close down to the final buzzer. In fact, the Pistons held just a 92-91 lead with 41.1 seconds left in the game. Of all people, Zaza Pachulia hit a putback to extend the Detroit lead to three. Wade brought the Heat to within one with 15 seconds left, meaning it was free throws all the way through.

Jackson nailed a pair, and after a missed three from Wade and another pair of free throws from Griffin, the game was over.

Thoughts

Smith did not re-injure anything, his absence was mostly precautionary. With another game tomorrow against the Kings, the status of Andre Drummond is going to be a big story. If he is not available, that points to the activation of Leuer or Ellenson IF they are healthy. Which does not help the situation much at all.

It was good to see Kennard not hesitate to shoot in the first half, and that led to him shoulder the offensive load for the second unit. That was a trend that continued throughout the game as he ended with 22 points, trailing only Griffin’s 32 point night.

Outside of Kennard and Griffin, the offense struggled to find the bottom of the net after the first half. That with the inability to stop Wade led to the Pistons surrendering their lead near the end of the third. But Kennard shooting is a spectacle, and helpful for the offense.

Wade ended his Detroit tenure with a 20 point night and a loss. This game ensures the Detroit Pistons will walk away from this homestand above .500 at home.