Following the Detroit Pistons 96-94 victory over the Indiana Pacers, we take a look at the players who saw floor time and give them final grades.
The Detroit Pistons won a 96-94 nail biter against the Indiana Pacers to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the season series against their Central Division rivals. The game probably shouldn’t have been this close, but 20 Pistons’ turnovers kept the Pacers in it and balanced what was otherwise a dominant game by Detroit.
The Pistons shot 54.2 percent from three-point range as a team and even got a trio of triples from Bruce Brown, which would have seemed like a miracle just a few days earlier. Some of the turnovers can be attributed to early season unfamiliarity, but others were just silly mistakes that Detroit can’t have, especially from their veterans. As with all the games so far there was a lot to get excited about but still some concerns. Here are the player grades for Detroit’s exciting win over Indiana.
Point Guards
Derrick Rose: C+
After three spectacular games Rose was due for a stink bomb and this was it. Rose shot just 4 for 16 with 10 points and added another 4 turnovers, which has been a problem. Rose looked a step slower than the first three games and his shot selection left a lot to be desired, especially in the 4th quarter when Rose missed five in a row on poor shot selection.
Rose kept driving into traffic and getting stuffed, his mid-range shots weren’t falling, and he failed to get back on defense a couple of times. Rose did hit the game winner, which brought him up half a grade, but he did so on a circus shot whose difficulty was somewhere around a 12 on a 10-point scale. The positive is that the Pistons got a win without Rose doing much, which is a good sign for the future.
Tim Frazier B-
Frazier scored just 2 points in 22 minutes and did not make a field goal. However, he added 8 assists, including a nice look in traffic to Andre Drummond for a dunk and a pinpoint behind-the-back pass to Markieff Morris for an open three-pointer.
Frazier was not spectacular by any means, but he facilitated the offense, had some nice passes and grabbed a few boards. The biggest concern with Frazier is his defense. At just 6 feet tall, Frazier has gotten bullied around a bit, but this should be less of a concern when Reggie Jackson returns, and Frazier is out of the starting lineup.