A wing on the rise
Coming into tonight, Svi Mykhailiuk had been elevating his game to a completely new level. In his last seven games he’s averaged 15.1 points on 51.3 percent shooting, including 43.8 percent from three-point range and 93.8 percent from the free throw line.
This has stemmed from the sudden surge of confidence he has in his jump shooting ability. In the last few weeks, and especially tonight, he’s been drawing comparisons to Joe Harris. A deadly marksman who’s also capable of putting the ball on the floor and going to the rim.
The way Svi has been cutting, shooting, passing, and defending has been a tremendous thrill to watch. He did a commendable job of slowly Harris down in the first half, and ended the game with 19 points and 5 rebounds on 46.6 percent shooting.
He played the second most minutes of any Piston tonight with 38 (behind Andre Drummond who played 41) and it was largely due to the impact that Svi brings on both ends of the floor.
He can guard multiple positions and is more or less the quintessential embodiment of what front offices look for in a “3 & D” type player.
Svi was involved in multiple ways on offense tonight. He’s one of Detroit’s better kick-out options, one of their better back door cut options, and one of their better spot up shooters. To reference back to what’s jump started his emergence as a scorer, he isn’t afraid of shooting anymore.
Moving forward, he’s going to continue to play clutch minutes for the Pistons.