DALLAS – On the cusp of becoming a game to forget, this win at Dallas might ultimately be remembered as the night the Pistons saw the resuscitation of Reggie Jackson and Stanley Johnson.
Down 12 points and flailing offensively with less than four minutes to play in the third quarter, the Pistons closed the quarter on an 8-0 run and took the lead for good three minutes into the fourth quarter. They outscored Dallas 43-21 over the game’s final 15:20, scoring 45 percent of their points in the final 32 percent of the game.
It was their second unit that kick started the comeback, including the three usual suspects – Jon Leuer, Aron Baynes and Ish Smith. But it was also Johnson – playing over Darrun Hilliard, who’d leapfrogged him 10 games ago – who made big plays on both ends.
So when Jackson came back 1:32 into the fourth quarter, the game was tied and the Pistons had the wind at their sails. He kept it going, scoring nine of his 20 points and dishing three of his six assists in that time as the Pistons won for the third straight year in one of the NBA’s notorious snake pits.
“It was great,” Jackson said of the turnaround the bench executed. “That’s kind of what we talked about in the huddle. The group that was in kept cutting it. They just were persistent. They kept getting stops, finding great shots and got some to finally go down. It kind of gave us the confidence to just keep rolling.”
“If you just look at the plus/minus numbers, we won the game with our bench,” Stan Van Gundy said. “Reggie finished real well, but our bench won the game.”
Leuer hit 8 of 9 shots and finished with a season-high 19 points plus five rebounds, two assists and a plus-25 in his 31 minutes. Baynes played 20 minutes and finished with eight points, 10 boards and a plus-18. Smith had five points and six assists in 18 minutes and was plus-nine.
But Johnson – plus-11 in 15 minutes, scoring seven points – was an X factor, giving the Pistons tough, aggressive defensive while mostly checking guards Deron Williams and Devin Harris in Dallas’ frequent two-point guard lineups.
“The season’s been up and down, so getting my work ethic in shape and then finally getting some rewards from it makes everything worthwhile to me,” Johnson said. “I’m happy I was out there at a meaningful time of the game. Says a lot about Coach, how much he trusts me to be out there.”
“He’s special on the defensive end,” Jackson said. “One of those guys who can move his feet, hold up bigger players. He takes a lot of pride in his defense. He came in and did a great job for us. That whole unit, they did a great job of changing the game.”
Van Gundy saw something in Leuer not everybody visualized and moved quickly in free agency, offering a four-year deal to a player who hadn’t played a full season in anyone’s rotation over his first five years. Jackson, though, says he knew Leuer had what it takes dating to their college days.
“He ruined my chance and Boston College’s chance of getting to the championship of the Turkey Day tournament down in Orlando. I knew. He’s been good and talented for a while. He’s just gotten meaner over the years. Everybody has a stretch four, but not like that one.”
When the Pistons are protecting a lead down the stretch, Van Gundy is more inclined to let Leuer finish. The numbers show he’s one of the team’s best defensive players and his size and ability to move his feet allow him to cover mobile forwards out on the floor and contest shots around the rim.
“It was our defense,” Leuer said of the late-game turnaround. “From the first half, even though we weren’t playing well offensively, that allowed us to stay in the game. Our defense really picked up in the second half and we knew we were going to catch a rhythm offensively, eventually.”
Jackson was the guy waving the baton to lead that rhythm section as the Pistons repelled Dallas’ last-ditch charge. He converted a few tough drives and made some pinpoint passes for other key baskets, showing flashes of the guy who drove the offense last season before missing this year’s first 21 games.
“I felt good. Just having my legs under me and the encouragement of the coaches and my team, just telling me to keep attacking, go downhill and make plays,” he said.
“It was great,” Leuer said. “That’s the player he can be. That’s the player we need him to be because he’s a great floor general and a good leader for us. He is a big-time playmaker.”
The Pistons got 17 rebounds from Andre Drummond to lead a whopping 20-rebound advantage. They got a lock-down defensive performance from Kentavious Caldwell-Pope on Wes Matthews (four points, 2 of 10 shooting) and much better defense from Marcus Morris than Harrison Barnes’ numbers (19 points, 9 of 18 shooting) reflected. And they got more of what they’ve come to expect from the three staples off their bench: Leuer, Baynes and Smith.
But the best part of the win: Reggie Jackson and Stanley Johnson looking like the players they can be.
“Reggie Jackson came back to form as know,” Johnson said. “It’s always good to have him back and making plays for us to end the game.”
He could have just as easily been talking about himself. Two guys the Pistons need to see this season go where they believe it can take them announced themselves in a big road win.
“I think the biggest thing,” Johnson said, “we’re all having fun at the end of the game.”