FAST BREAKDOWN
Three quick observations from Saturday night’s 118-96 win over the Indiana Pacers…
SLAM DUNK – We could start anywhere from quite arguably the season’s best win, all things considered. But let’s start with this. Paul George is, by any measure, a legitimate MVP candidate, maybe the favorite this side of Steph Curry. He came into Saturday night’s game averaging career highs with 27.7 points, 8.1 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game. He got outplayed by Marcus Morris. George finished with 13 points on 4 of 16 shooting, guarded most of the time by Morris. Morris kept the Pistons close in the second quarter – he hit his first four shots, three tough jumpers and a triple – until their defense started getting some stops. One night after scoring 21 to lead the Pistons to a win at Philadelphia, Morris finished with 16 points on 7 of 13 shooting. And if you’re giving out gold stars, first in line has to be Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. He finished with 18 points, a career-high (by three) eight assists, seven boards, four steals and a blocked shot. He went the distance in the second half until Stan Van Gundy took him out with 3:23 to play and the Pistons up 25. Reggie Jackson also played superbly with 21 points, nine assists and just one turnover. The Pistons – who put up 118 points against the league’s fifth-ranked defense – won their second straight and are now 14-11.
FREE THROW – Last time these teams met, Indiana’s bench outscored the Pistons’ backups 43-2. They held a 13-0 edge in the second quarter before Steve Blake put his group on the board. One of the keys to the win was the minutes Stan Van Gundy’s bench gave his team in that second quarter. Blake let Reggie Jackson sit for more than seven minutes and contributed six points and an assist. Anthony Tolliver hit a three and recorded a steal. Stanley Johnson had three first-half steals and Aron Baynes gave Andre Drummond more than eight minutes of rest and held down the middle just fine. Blake finished with 11 points and four assists and Johnson with 11 points, also helping Marcus Morris keep Paul George to one of his least productive games. Baynes was stout in the middle, giving the Pistons six points and seven rebounds in 16 minutes
Indiana’s bench wound up outscoring Detroit’s by 42-35, but Van Gundy will take that ratio when these two teams meet every time.
3-POINTER – The Pistons entered a stretch of games this week that will see them play nine of 10 games against teams with better records at the time the streak began. The Pistons lost to Charlotte and Memphis, then beat Philadelphia before crushing Indiana. Next up come tough home games with the Los Angeles Clippers and Boston, then road games at Chicago, Atlanta and Miami leading into Christmas and a return visit by Boston the day after Christmas to complete the 10-game stretch. “It’s a difficult stretch of games playing a lot of very good teams in a very compact schedule,” Stan Van Gundy said. “Tonight, fifth game in seven days and then we still don’t get two days off until after the Chicago game. It’s a difficult schedule, it’s a grueling one and we have to be right on it this stretch to have a chance to win.”
