Detroit Pistons: Blake Griffin’s legacy in Detroit sports

Detroit Pistons: Blake Griffin had a season to remember

Blake’s approach to playing in Detroit was put on full display during the 2018 – 2019 NBA season.

Blake Griffin managed to drag the struggling Pistons to the playoffs with a LeBron-like line of 24.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and  5.4 assists. That line not only made him the first player in franchise history to average at least 24 points, seven rebounds and five assists but also made Griffin one of just three NBA players that year (Giannis Antetokounmpo and LeBron James being the others) to post such numbers.

By running the offense through Blake the Pistons were able to make the playoffs as an 8th seed but shouldering such a load took its toll on Griffin. After hobbling through the final weeks of the season with a knee injury, the Pistons’ star was forced to sit out the first 2 playoff games against the Milwaukee Bucks.

The Pistons lost the first two games and an injured Blake Griffin returned in Game 3. Griffin, on one leg, would not be denied, like a comic-book hero or Jon Snow wading into battle, he  threw himself into the fray again and again, against an unbeatable villain in MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and the best-record-in-the-NBA Milwaukee Bucks.

Blake finished with 27 7 and 6 and a hilariously high 12.5 Box Plus Minus but it wasn’t enough, the Pistons lost Game 3 and would eventually go on to lose Game 4.

During Game 4 in Detroit, in a series where the whistle had swung so far in favor of the Bucks it would make Tim Donaghy blush, Pistons fans took matters in their own hands chanting “Refs you suck, refs you suck.” If he wasn’t already a legend in Pistons history by then – Blake cemented his status by joining in with the fans.

In the final quarter of Game 4, after dunking on Ersan Illyasova (shout out to the former charge-taking champ of the Pistons) Blake once again aggravated his knee, ending the series not only for himself but the Pistons.

Despite playing with what looked like a knee held together with an enormous Stone Cold Steve Austin style brace, Blake Griffin averaged a stat line of 24.5 points, 6 assists, and 6 rebounds. The Pistons fans in the arena, with a vigor that attempted to convey an entire season’s worth of appreciation, chanted “M-V-P! M-V-P!” as Blake Griffin walked back to the bench one last time.