FAST BREAKDOWN
Three quick observations from Friday night’s 125-122 win over the Atlanta Hawks at State Farm Arena
MAKER’S MARK –First game in nine days and the Pistons crammed in a little bit of everything – including a dramatic triple from newcomer Thon Maker with 17 seconds left to cap a 10-2 comeback in the final two minutes. What else did this madcap game entail? The Pistons allowed the most 3-pointers from an opponent all season, Atlanta tying Boston’s previous high of 16 in the third quarter and finishing with 20 in 42 attempts – but misses from Trae Young and Vince Carter in the last 10 seconds preserved the win. They got a season-high 32 points from Reggie Jackson, 27 in the first three quarters. They got Andre Drummond’s 10th 20-20 game of the season, Drummond finishing with 26 points and 21 rebounds and hitting two clutch free throws with 44 seconds left to tie the game. They also got what they felt was the raw end of the whistle when they lost Blake Griffin to ejection midway through the third quarter as they led by 11 points. More on that later. In the meantime, the Pistons pocketed a win they had to have coming out of the All-Star break and with a showdown at Miami on Saturday looming. They turned a 15-point second-quarter deficit into an 11-point third-quarter lead – the moment that preceded Griffin’s ejection. As much as the resurgence of Jackson and the elevated play of Drummond helped the Pistons get back in the playoff race in the three weeks before the All-Star break, their defense was just as big a factor. They ranked No. 6 at that end over the last 10 games. And then Atlanta – the NBA’s No. 25 offense – struck from 59 points in a little more than 18 minutes. The Pistons trailed by 14 when Dwane Casey called timeout with 5:34 left. The Hawks scored 11 the rest of the half as the Pistons pulled within two at halftime, then the Pistons held them to just six points in the first seven minutes of the third quarter. But Griffin was gone shortly after that, cracking the door for the Hawks to get back in the game. Hawks rookie Trae Young led Atlanta with 30 points and 10 assists.
ANOTHER NEW LINEUP – Dwane Casey spent much of the first half of the season looking for a consistent and reliable fifth starter before settling on rookie Bruce Brown for his defensive chops and versatility. Trading Reggie Bullock opened up the fifth spot again, though, and Casey gave Luke Kennard first crack at filling it. After two games of coming off the bench since signing as a free agent and choosing the Pistons over a host of contenders, Wayne Ellington took over Bullock’s vacated spot coming out of the All-Star break. That probably said less about Kennard’s performance as a starter than it did about Casey’s preference for Kennard as a playmaker and secondary ballhandler next to Ish Smith with the second unit – and also about the similarities between Ellington and Bullock and the same hoped-for chemistry Ellington might create with Blake Griffin in playing off of him to create open 3-point opportunities. Casey said earlier in the week that it didn’t require much tweaking of the offense to fit in Ellington because he had similar strengths and tendencies as Bullock. Ellington finished with nine points, though he shot just 3 of 10, including 3 of 9 from the 3-point arc. Kennard scored seven points in 16 minutes.
COSTLY EJECTION – On the bright side, Blake Griffin figures to be fresh for Saturday’s big game at Miami, where the Pistons will look to take a 2-1 edge in the season series over Miami and stay ahead of the Heat in the race for the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference playoff chase. On the other hand, the Pistons sure could have used him in the fourth quarter of a tight game with Atlanta. Griffin’s ejection with 4:18 left in the third quarter came after he hit a 3-pointer to give the Pistons an 88-77 lead. Griffin was called for a technical by Dedric Taylor, apparently for something he said after making the 3-pointer. He’d picked up another technical less than a minute earlier when he attempted to wrest the ball away from Dewayne Dedmon as he held on to it even after it had been ruled Pistons ball after Dedmon stepped out of bounds. Atlanta came back to take the lead early in the fourth quarter. Griffin played just 23 minutes, finishing with 15 points and four rebounds. And for as fresh as Griffin figures to be at Miami, Andre Drummond will be challenged after being pushed to 40 minutes in large measure due to Griffin’s absence.