Detroit Pistons show full potential in win over Houston Rockets

Riddled with injuries, the Detroit Pistons got an impressive win over the Houston Rockets. Perhaps it’s a sign of things to come as they get healthy.

The Detroit Pistons did the unthinkable on Saturday night. They beat the Houston Rockets to close a three-game traveling trip, and did it without Andre Drummond, Reggie Jackson and a hobbled Blake Griffin for 15 minutes.

Sure, the Pistons (11-15) didn’t have to face Russell Westbrook, who rests for one of two games on a back-to-back, but James Harden was coming off back-to-back 50-point games. Houston (17-9) came off a win in Orlando the night before.

Detroit got contributions up and down the lineup to win its fifth game over the last seven tries, including three on the road. The Pistons are turning a corner by keeping turnovers down, pushing after creating live-ball turnovers and leaning on their bench.

But, as he did last season, Bruce Brown was instrumental in the Pistons holding Harden to 39 points on 14-of-33 shooting and 4-of-13 on three’s. He, Tony Snell and other Piston defenders would take away his drives to his left hand and force him off the 3-point line to drive to the paint.

After a few early lobs to Clint Capela, the Pistons adjusted to seal those and Harden was becoming visibly frustrated with how he was being defended. Detroit also used fullcourt pressure, doubled him off the in-bounds pass and had strong closeouts.

The Pistons got 56 points from their bench, including 20 from Derrick Rose and 15 from Markieff Morris, 11 from Christian Wood and 10 from Langston Galloway.

In Drummond’s presence, Thon Maker drew the start and played fairly well. He had some tough moments but was solid defensively, including a pair of blocks and grabbing six rebounds. He had a flush and hustle rebounds, finishing plus-8 in 25 minutes.

Luke Kennard came out firing scoring 12 of Detroit’s first 18 points. He finished with 22 on 6 of 13 and 4-of-7 on three’s. Snell added 15 points on seven shots. Brown had 16 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and four steals.

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As a team, the Pistons had 27 assists to 14 turnovers, five of which came off Morris’ hands. They held the Rockets to 28.9% from 3-point range and out-ran them with a 26-6 advantage in fast break points.

Jackson played the first two games of the season before being sidelined every since. He’ll likely be re-evaluated this week after continuing to rehab, though it may be a few weeks longer before he feels fully healthy.

But Detroit will need its stars moving forward into the rigorous second half of the season. Avocadre should return and Griffin, who has been bothered by a knee injury, has only missed two games since Nov. 12. Though Griffin may need to take some time to heal because he doesn’t look fully healthy, and he’ll be important for the home stretch.

After a 4-12 start, the Pistons have improved to 11-15 and sit a half-game behind the Orlando Magic for the eight spot. It’s truly remarkable given Detroit’s injury bugaboos. But the Pistons are clearly improving – individually and as a team – and it’s leading to a significant turnaround.

The next six games come against the Wizards (twice), Bulls, Raptors, Celtics and Sixers before a trip out West to ring in the new year.