Killian Hayes’ confidence directly resulted in a win for the Detroit Pistons.
I think that’s a sentence that many Pistons fans have been waiting to read for a while. And in the thrilling overtime win against the Mavericks, Hayes’ performance may have been the realest thing both inside Little Caesars Arena and across the NBA world on Thursday night.
He was the Piston that you wanted to see with the ball during crunch time. Drawing double teams, taking and making tough shots, as well as making the right play. Killian Hayes was doing it all.
The shots were falling from all over the floor. Hayes was 10-for-13 from the field, including 8-for-9 on twos and 2-for-4 from three-point range.
The most important of his 10 made shots were the two made threes, as both were in clutch time of the overtime period.
First, the go ahead bucket. Then, the dagger.
Killian Hayes hit back-to-back threes in OT to close out the Mavs🔥 pic.twitter.com/aU3v9RMZst
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) December 2, 2022
These buckets were certainly the highlight of the night for Hayes and the Detroit Pistons. However, he was cooking down the stretch in regulation as well, making tough shot after tough shot.
here is killian hayes *skewering* the mavs pic.twitter.com/wFWJ7hPB1W
— Dan Favale (@danfavale) December 2, 2022
If it weren’t for a defensive lapse that allowed a late run for the Mavs, Killian’s scoring and playmaking ability would have ended this one before overtime.
Detroit Pistons: Killian Hayes takes over
For Hayes and the Pistons however, the overtime period was how this game was supposed to end.
He scored eight of the team’s 14 points in OT and continued to shoot the ball with confidence. Making the most of his moment that was unfolding when few expected it.
When the night was over, NBA Twitter was ablaze reacting to the most impressive game of Hayes’ career. He had 22 points, eight assists, four rebounds and only two turnovers. The game was coming to him, which resulted in the Mavs struggling to find an answer.
Hayes was reading the floor, taking the right shots and putting any previous noise out of mind. As that happened, the fan base got the performance that they were much longing for and the rest of the league took notice.
Prior to the career night, Hayes had already began to surge. Over the last four games, he has averaged 16.5 points, close to eight assists, four rebounds, two steals and only two turnovers per contest.
With Cade Cunningham out and Jaden Ivey just returning from injury Thursday night against the Mavs, Killian Hayes has made the most of his opportunity. This can build into solidifying his role within the organization’s future. Along with the rest of the 2020 draft class, he is extension eligible this summer, adding to the importance of Hayes finding his long term footing this season.
His performance in a gutsy overtime win against Luka Doncic and the Mavericks was truly special. Special enough to be a turning point in the young guard’s career.