Three quick observations from Detroit’s 104-99 win on Tuesday night over the Cleveland Cavaliers…
SLAM DUNK – The Pistons were significantly better on offense, but when the game needed to be won it was their defense that allowed them to snap a four-game losing streak and maybe send a little bit of a message across Lake Erie. Reggie Jackson rediscovered his offensive mojo – he finished with 23 points and a season-best 12 assists – and Andre Drummond was again dominant, posting his 11th straight double-double with 25 points and 18 rebounds and the Pistons came back from a 13-point third-quarter deficit on the strength of gritty, physical defense.
After two Kevin Love free throws gave Cleveland a four-point lead with 3:01 left, the Pistons held the Cavs scoreless on five straight possessions to take the lead. They protected it as Jackson hit six straight free throws in the final 20 seconds. Cleveland shot 56 percent in the first half, but the Pistons held them to 43 points and 39 percent shooting in the second half.
With improved ball movement came the open shots for Ersan Ilyasova Stan Van Gundy envisioned and he responded with 20 points on just 10 shots. Ilyasova also grabbed six rebounds, including a critical one with 22 seconds left and the Pistons ahead by a point as Tristan Thompson battled him for the loose ball.
FREE THROW – Stan Van Gundy stuck with Spencer Dinwiddie over Steve Blake as the backup point guard and stayed with the 10-man rotation, including Reggie Bullock in the playing mix for a second consecutive game.
He also began the second quarter with an all-bench unit, something he said after the loss to Indiana when Detroit’s bench was outscored 43-2 that he was going to stop doing for the time being. Dinwiddie was probably an easy call for him after his 17-point showing on Sunday against the Lakers. He could have had better numbers against the Cavs – Dinwiddie finished with three points on 1 of 6 shooting – if he’d gotten a few calls on drives where he drew plenty of contact, enough that Van Gundy was in the ears of officials about it several times.
But he kept the ball moving and did a credible job defensively, too. If Dinwiddie continues to play well, he’ll very likely remain Reggie Jackson’s backup. If he’s up and down, Van Gundy could go back to Steve Blake or, perhaps, go game to game with it depending on matchups and what he feels is needed at the moment. Bullock got five minutes in the first half, but Van Gundy shortened the rotation to nine in the second.
3-POINTER – In a perfect world, everybody would meet on equal rest. But that’s never going to happen in an NBA that calls for exclusive national TV nights and when teams share arenas with hockey partners and have to allow for concert and other event bookings.
But the Pistons haven’t gotten a single favor from the NBA over their first 11 games. Coming off an 11-day road trip that saw them get back home barely before Monday’s sunrise, they were tipping off about 36 hours after their heads hit the pillows against a Cleveland team that had been off since playing at Milwaukee on Saturday night. The Pistons head right back out of town and get their fourth back-to-back of the season Friday and Saturday.
When they host the Wizards on Saturday night, it will mark the fourth time in their first 13 games that they’ll be playing the back end of a back to back against a team that didn’t play the night before.
“There’s just no sense talking about it or thinking about it,” Stan Van Gundy said. “The game’s on the schedule for tonight. Get ready to play.”
That’s what they did. Now they go back on the road for a Friday game at Minnesota.
