Luke Kennard’s top three games with the Detroit Pistons

12/10/18 against Philadelphia

Through the Pistons first 20 games in the 2018-2019 season, there was a general sense of optimism surrounding the team. Blake Griffin had his first offseason with Detroit under his belt, and had even posted a 50-point game to open the year.

Through those 20 games, they were sitting on a 13-7 record, having scrapped their way through some impressive wins, including their most recent one to the Golden State Warriors.

Then they went on a pretty difficult slide and lost their next 6 games.

Inside of that skid, Kennard had an explosive outing against the 76ers, where he put up 28 points an 8 rebounds on 61.1 percent shooting.

His movement off the ball was the story here. He was smart without the ball in his hands, cutting to the basket and setting himself up for open looks. Luke even had a shot that was reminiscent of Avery Bradley‘s time with the Pistons when he knocked a running jumper off of a give and go from the top of the key.

The Pistons wound up losing the game, as has become customary when playing the Sixers. But seeing Luke bounce back from his shoulder sprain with such ferocity was an encouraging sign.

There’s nothing particularly special about the clip below, but it does do a good job of displaying the zone that Kennard was in that night. A heat check if you’ve ever seen one. Give him an inch and he’ll take you a mile.