FAST BREAKDOWN
Three quick observations from Wednesday night’s 95-85 win over the Dallas Mavericks
SLAM DUNK – The Pistons lead the NBA in turnovers – lack of them. That’s a good thing. They came into their game at Dallas, winners of two of three but still with a conference-worst 6-18 record, averaging 11.6 a game. They committed eight in the first quarter alone, 13 in the first half. So despite a whopping 29-9 rebounding edge at the break – Andre Drummond had 14 all by himself – the Pistons still found themselves in an uncomfortable tie. There were other reasons the Pistons struggled to beat a Dallas team playing without Dirk Nowitzki, Andrew Bogut and J.J. Barea, but the turnovers – way too many of them unforced or caused by reckless decisions – were the overwhelming factor. Dallas took a 12-point lead past the midway point of the third quarter, but the Pistons went on a 16-3 run – holding Dallas scoreless on its last six possessions of the third quarter to get it started – to take a one-point lead early in the fourth quarter. They stretched their run to 27-5 to take a 10-point lead with less than six minutes to play. The Pistons reverted to their norm in the second half, committing six turnovers, and that gave them the extra possessions they needed to score 52 points and pull away, finishing the game on a 43-21 run. Jon Leuer scored a season-high 19 points off the bench, hitting 8 of 9 shots, and Reggie Jackson had his highest-scoring game in his six since returning with 20, nine in the fourth quarter. Drummond finished with 17 rebounds as the Pistons finished with a 50-30 edge.
FREE THROW – The Pistons have played an unusual number of one-sided games, the primary reason Caldwell-Pope’s playing time is down to 33 minutes a game from last year’s 37. Van Gundy expects he’ll use Caldwell-Pope closer to 36 minutes a game when it matters. He’s also going to look at using both Reggie Jackson and Ish Smith in tandem more often, which is a more realistic option when Jackson can play more minutes as he improves his conditioning level following two months of rehab from his left knee injury. Caldwell-Pope had a quiet game at Dallas – he went the first half without a point, rebound or assist – but scored two big late fourth-quarter baskets, one a tough drive to beat the shot clock and the second a triple to put the Pistons up seven. He scored 11 points, coming out with 31 seconds left after apparently rolling his left ankle, though he walked off with only a slight limp. He also played a big role in Wes Matthews, third in the NBA in 3-point makes, being held to four points on 3 of 13 shooting. Part of the reason the Pistons perform so much better with him on the court (they’re plus 18.9 in net efficiency, a measure of point differential per 100 possessions, when he plays) than off the court (minus 11.3 net efficiency) is how unevenly Hilliard and Stanley Johnson before him have played. About that…
3-POINTER – Stan Van Gundy went to Darrun Hilliard over Stanley Johnson as Kentavious Caldwell-Pope’s backup in late November, a stretch of 10 games heading into Wednesday’s Dallas matchup. It was some good, some bad … and, at Dallas at least, it’s now back to Johnson, perhaps. Van Gundy said it’s now a game-by-game decision as to who plays when Caldwell-Pope sits, but it was Johnson who got the call at Dallas despite matchups that had him guarding point guards Devin Harris and Deron Williams. Johnson showed encouraging flashes against Dallas, finishing with seven points and two rebounds and amassing a string of impressive defensive possessions as the Pistons rallied late in the third and early in the fourth quarters. Over the 10 games Hilliard got his shot, he averaged 5.3 points but twice as many turnovers (1.1 per game) as assists (0.5) and shot 33 percent from the 3-point line. He got to those numbers by essentially alternating good outings with poor ones and Van Gundy is hoping to find a more consistent solution at the only position of uncertainty in his current rotation.
