FAST BREAKDOWN
Three quick observations from Friday night’s 112-106 loss to the Chicago Bulls at United Center
3-POINT STORY – Dwane Casey wants the Pistons to be a 3-point shooting team, but that’s going to be a tough slog for the roster as it’s constructed while both Blake Griffin and Reggie Jackson are down with injuries. The Pistons fell behind by 16 points in Friday’s first half largely because of the disparity in 3-point shooting as they missed their first 14 triples, finally connecting with a minute left as Luke Kennard hit one to spark a run that saw Chicago’s lead cut to three. They fell behind by 16 again midway through the third quarter, then again surged back despite getting little production from the 3-point line as a 14-2 run pulled them within four. They finally knocked down a few in the fourth quarter – consecutive threes from Kennard, another from Markieff Morris – and tied the game at 96 with six minutes to play. They took a one-point lead with 3:46 to go, but after each of those possessions, Chicago 3-pointers – one from Thaddeus Young, the other from Zach LaVine – put the Bulls back in front. Another LaVine three made it a five-point lead. The Pistons had more chances, including to tie on a Tony Snell three from the corner with 30 seconds left, but their failure from the 3-point line doomed them. Chicago finished 16 of 40 (40 percent) from the 3-point arc to 6 of 29 (20.7 percent) for the Pistons, a disparity of 30 points from distance. The Pistons took a franchise-record 2,854 3-point shots a season ago, but nearly 1,000 of them (993) came from Griffin and Jackson.
M-V-P!!! – The chants of “M-V-P, M-V-P” ring out in nearly every NBA arena these days for pretenders and contenders alike, but Bulls fans get a pass for firing up the chant for a guy who actually has one to his credit. Derrick Rose, voted youngest MVP in NBA history when he won the award at 22 in 2011, heard the chant often in his return to the United Center. Rose didn’t disappoint his admirers, either. He finished with 28 points and 7 assists and made at least a handful of his trademark explosive moves to the rim to collapse the Chicago defense. The Pistons outscored Chicago 16-10 over the first half of the fourth quarter to tie the game when Rose returned with 5:28 to play. Rose finished with 23 points and seven assists, shooting 8 of 13. Rose had been 2-0 at United Center vs. the Bulls since leaving Chicago and 4-0 vs. the Bulls over that time. The Pistons came into the game with a seven-game win streak over the Bulls.
MR. 20-20 – Andre Drummond has had some monster games at United Center, including a 33-point, 21-rebound game in a four-overtime win in December 2015. Drummond, the dominant rebounder of his generation and arguably the greatest offensive rebounder in NBA history, had another big game against the Bulls this time around. He finished with 25 points and 23 rebounds, giving him his third 20-20 in six games and second straight. That gives him 35 for his career, breaking a tie with Shaquille O’Neal to move him into 18th all time. He had 20 points and 17 rebounds in 26 minutes midway through the third quarter when he went to the bench with four fouls. The Bulls came into Friday’s game dead last in the NBA in defensive rebounding, grabbing a mere 68.6 percent of shots on their defensive end. Drummond grabbed five offensive boards and also finished with four blocked shots, two steals and two assists in 35 minutes.