Detroit Pistons: Ranking their 10 wins in the first half of the season
By Ethan Wolfe
Detroit Pistons: Ranking the team’s 10 wins
9. January 16: Pistons 120, Heat 100
It’s a recurring theme that when the Detroit Pistons are in town, opponents don’t send their best. If you have made it this far, you realize that that can be a mistake.
In this case, Miami was without star forward Jimmy Butler. Detroit’s offense, in kind, went off. Detroit poured in 18 triples and shot 62 percent from two.
The defense was up to par, too. The Pistons stifled the Heat’s rudderless offense forcing 22 turnovers and out-rebounding them, 39-31.
All told, the Pistons had 24 more shot attempts and was still firing at a higher clip.
8. February 14: Pistons 123, Pelicans 112
Stan Van Gundy returned to Detroit to coach against his former team. Sure enough, the Pistons spoiled it.
Detroit, boosted by Plumlee and its league-leading bench scoring, dismantled New Orleans with relative ease. But it was still a game of milestones.
Plumlee secured his first career triple-double with a 17-10-10 performance, becoming the oldest center to get his first since Patrick Ewing in 1996, per ESPN.
This victory was also the Pistons’ first consecutive win of the season.
Svi Mykahiliuk and Josh Jackson were unlikely rainmakers, combining for 39 points on 15-for-25 shooting off the pine.
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7. January 25: Pistons 119, 76ers 104
This was another game where a star sat but the expected outcome shouldn’t have changed.
Philadelphia was without Joel Embiid, who was a primary instigator against previous Pistons teams. Even without Embiid, this chippy game featured five technical fouls and one of the season’s funniest moments: rookie Isaiah Stewart ripping Dwight Howard’s shorts.
This contest is when Stewart earned the nickname “Beef Stew” for his motor, physicality and ease with which he can stir the pot.
Wright torched the Sixers for a career-high 28 points, and was aided offensively with 25 from Grant and 20 from Wayne Ellington.
6. January 28: Pistons 107, Lakers 92
Yes, Anthony Davis did not play in this game. But that isn’t an excuse for the defending champions to get blown out by Detroit.
The game was a rock fight until a 16-0 run over a seven-minute span in the fourth quarter turned it into a lopsided affair.
The Lakers ran out of gas as coach Frank Vogel noted, but it wasn’t the Pistons’ youth that outlasted them. The veterans (anyone 25 and older on this roster) scored 92 of Detroit’s 107 points.