FAST BREAKDOWN
SLAM DUNK – Kentavious Caldwell-Pope’s value to the Pistons is reflected in the fact that Stan Van Gundy plays him more than 37 minutes a game, second to James Harden. His defense is his calling card and likely will always be his greatest asset. But Caldwell-Pope has great untapped potential as a scorer, too. He tapped it in a big way Wednesday, scoring a career-high 31 points and leading huge runs in the second (11-0) and fourth (14-0) quarters. He erupted for 10 straight Pistons points in the second quarter, hitting four jump shots – two triples, two off-the-dribble pull-ups – on four straight possessions in less than two minutes. That got the Pistons all even after an 11-0 run had put Boston ahead by eight points. He had another brilliant run in the fourth quarter – hitting a jump shot, picking up a steal turned into a dunk, then drawing a charge on consecutive plays. A few possessions later, he drove and found Anthony Tolliver for a triple to give the Pistons a nine-point lead with 8:41 to play, then found Tolliver for another triple moments later. When Boston kept fighting back – ex-Piston Jonas Jerebko hit three straight triples to keep it close – Reggie Jackson scored 13 straight points on five straight possessions. Isaiah Thomas tied his career high for Boston with 38 points. Jackson finished with 22. Andre Drummond, after a slow start, had 16 points and 12 boards.
FREE THROW – It’s not going to be a straight up arrow from now until the rest of the season, but the Pistons are clearly gaining some traction offensively. They came into Wednesday’s win over the Celtics averaging 106.6 points over their last nine games. Against Boston – which entered the game ranked behind only San Antonio in defensive efficiency – the Pistons started slowly but got rolling when the bench sparked a 37-point second quarter. They followed up with 30 more in the third quarter and 33 more in the fourth against a team that allows 98.4 points per game. The Pistons shot .487 from the field and .524 from the 3-point line. Credit the bench with helping kick start the Pistons. They led a 15-6 run to start the second quarter and the offense stayed in a rhythm the rest of the night. Anthony Tolliver hit 3 of 4 from the 3-point line and finished with nine points, as did Aron Baynes. Stanley Johnson gave the Pistons eight points and seven rebounds in 21 minutes.
3-POINTER – Stan Van Gundy was encouraged by the way the Pistons played in beating Indiana last Saturday in a back-to-back situation. The Pistons are 3-4 this season when playing on consecutive days. Losses at Los Angeles (Lakers) and Charlotte stand out as two of their least inspired games of the season, but the wins over Houston and Indiana were two games they played with great intensity. Van Gundy’s talked to the team about back to backs being largely a state of mind and hopes the message is taking hold. Boston, meanwhile, came into Wednesday’s game with a four-game winning streak and a 4-1 overall record this season in back-to-back situations, with three of the wins especially notable – road wins at Houston, Miami and Charlotte, the first two by double digits. The Pistons play their eighth back to back of the season before Christmas with a Tuesday-Wednesday set at Miami and Atlanta, then don’t play another until Jan. 20-21. They are tied for the league lead in back to backs with 20 for the season.
