Detroit Pistons player grades in 132-98 win over San Antonio Spurs

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Detroit Pistons Christian Wood. (Photo by Chris Schwegler/NBAE via Getty Images) /

Big men

Blake Griffin

Line: 10 points, 4-12/0-3/2-2, 2 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 turnovers
Grade: B-

Griffin’s ability to impact games in different ways is underrated. He’s done a great job of transforming his game and on Sunday, his passing game was a key part the Pistons’ success. One of the bugaboos of the team has been frontcourt turnovers, specifically. Griffin eased that pain, picking his spots to score, especially when matched up against Trey Lyles and punishing him in the post, but most importantly was an efficient passer.

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Markieff Morris

Line: 10 points, 4-6/2-4/0-0, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 turnover
Grade: B-

Morris was efficient with his shots and was solid in catch-and-shoot opportunities on the perimeter. He appeared to lack the physical aggressiveness defensively but fortunately the Pistons did a good job of keeping San Antonio out of the paint.

Christian Wood

Line: 28 points, 11-14/2-3/4-4, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, 1 steal, 1 turnover
Grade: A

Wood got the call off the bench over Thon Maker and rewarded Dwane Casey by scoring a career-high 28 points on 14 shots. He did virtually everything with his athleticism, scoring from the perimeter, impressive dunks in the post, including bullying Rudy Gay out of the way after a spin move. He used his quickness and length to grab rebounds and impact shots. How he didn’t latch on to other teams is beyond me, and others.

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Thon Maker

Line: 2 points, 1-1/0-0/0-0
Grade: C

It was a pretty average game for Maker, who primarily got minutes late in the fourth quarter. He had a solid cut through the lane leading to a layup. Defensively he was in solid position but didn’t really bother shots.

Andre Drummond

Line: 9 points, 4-8/0-0/1-4, 16 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 3 blocks, 4 turnovers
Grade: C-

Drummond didn’t have his best game but made a better defensive impact than on the other end. In fact, he had an impressive block as Jakob Poeltl drove to the rim for a dunk. His ability to patrol the paint and defend the pick-and-roll was key in keeping the Spurs out of the paint.

His turnovers ended up not being an issue. Drummond is a skilled passer but he’s averaging 3.9 turnovers per game this season, some of which is due to increased ball-handling responsibility with Griffin and Reggie Jackson missing early parts of the season.

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It was an encouraging win for the Pistons, who hope to win back-to-back games for the first time this season with a visit to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday.

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