FAST BREAKDOWN
Three quick observations from Friday night’s 111-97 win over the Los Angeles Lakers at Little Caesars Arena
A WIN’S A WIN – It wasn’t a work of art, but it was worthy of hanging in a gallery coming on the heels of the two worst offensive performances of the season. The Pistons – who had the NBA’s No. 1 offense over 15 games from Feb. 1 through Sunday – scored 75 points in losing at Brooklyn on Monday and came back with 74 two nights later at Miami. Throw out an ugly second quarter in which they had to rally to score 19 points and the offense rebounded to beat a badly depleted opponent. The Lakers, who’d already grounded Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram for the season, were also without LeBron James, to the great disappointment of a crowded Little Caesars Arena. The Pistons used a 13-0 run that began midway through the quarter to break open a tight game. Langston Galloway hit 4 of 6 from the 3-point arc and led the Pistons with 23 points. Andre Drummond finished with 19 points and 23 rebounds, missing his 12th 20-20 of the season by one point. The Pistons scored 31 points in the third quarter and 65 in the second half.
JACKSON’S BACK – Reggie Jackson needed aid to walk to the showers at Miami on Wednesday night and left American Airlines Arena in a walking boot, but he was back in the starting lineup on Friday. That kept intact Jackson’s streak of playing in all 68 games so far this season. He turned his right ankle – the same one in which he suffered a grade-3 sprain last season, costing him 37 games – midway through the fourth quarter at Miami. He missed shots early, but there was no apparent sign of Jackson being bothered by the injury. He warmed up the third quarter, when he scored 10 of his 20 points, had three assists and no turnovers. Reggie Bullock, Jackson’s backcourt partner for much of the past few seasons, made his return with the Lakers, who acquired him last month prior to the trade deadline. Bullock struggled, going 0 of 5 from the 3-point arc in a four-point outing. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, the other ex-Pistons shooting guard for the Lakers, had a better night, finishing with 17 points in 30 minutes off the bench.
GALLOWAY SPARKLES – One reason the game was still in doubt midway through the third quarter was the ineffectiveness of the Pistons bench in the second quarter. When Dwane Casey started waving his starters back into the game five minutes into the quarter, the Pistons had scored just five points and by the time he got them all back in the game with five minutes left in the quarter they were still stuck at five points. The five-point lead the Pistons held after the first quarter had turned into a one-point deficit. Their fourth-quarter stint didn’t go much better, though their problems were more at the defensive end that time. The Lakers scored 17 points in the first four minutes of the quarter to cut a 15-point deficit to eight. Langston Galloway was the only redeeming factor for the bench as he scored 10 of its 11 points in the second quarter on his way to 23 points. Everybody else finished in the red in plus/minus. Luke Kennard couldn’t get much to fall for him, finishing 2 of 9 shooting and 1 of 5 from the 3-point arc. Dwane Casey probably wanted to finish the game with his starters sitting out the fourth quarter, but he had to get Andre Drummond and Blake Griffin back with eight minutes to go.