FAST BREAKDOWN
Three quick observations from Saturday night’s 115-107 win over the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center
IT TAKES A VILLAGE – All things considered, not a bad road trip. The Pistons went 2-1, losing in Mexico City but winning both games on this side of the border. And their win at Houston to wrap it up – without Andre Drummond for all of it and Blake Griffin for the second half – was the undisputed highlight. It took a little bit from everybody who was available to get it done. Derrick Rose turned it on in the fourth quarter, scoring 10 points to finish with 20 points and a season-high 12 assists, and the Pistons protected a 10-point halftime lead and withstood the second-half assault from James Harden to beat the Rockets. Harden scored 25 in the second half to reach his season average of 39, but it took him 33 shots to get there. Bruce Brown (16 points, 10 rebounds, six assists) was the primary defender with Tony Snell (15 points) getting a heavy dose and Langston Galloway and Rose taking turns, as well. Of the eight players who played in the second half, seven of them scored in double figures. In addition to Rose’s assists and Brown’s rebounds, Christian Wood also set a season high with 13 boards to go with his 11 points. Markieff Morris scored 15 and Langston Galloway 10 off of the bench. Luke Kennard scored 18 of his team-high 22 in the first half.
DRUMMOND SITS – The left eye inflammation that flared on Andre Drummond in Mexico City after an allergic reaction to avocado affected Drummond to the point that he sat out his first game of the season. Drummond was able to play through the condition on Thursday in Mexico, but was again listed as questionable on the official injury report after sitting out Saturday morning’s shootaround. Dwane Casey was unsure of Drummond’s status 90 minutes before game time when he met with the media, but Drummond did not appear for his usual on-court workout an hour before tipoff. Thon Maker replaced him in the starting lineup and Christian Wood maintained his role as the second-unit center. Since missing 20 games as a rookie with a lower-back stress fracture – the injury that has sidelined Reggie Jackson for the past 23 games – Drummond has been one of the NBA’s most durable players, missing a total of 10 games across six seasons entering 2019-20. Without the NBA’s leading rebounder (16.6 per game) and against the NBA’s No. 9 rebounding team, the Pistons outrebounded Houston 55-46. Six players had at least five boards led by Wood (13) and Bruce Brown (10).
MORE IRONMAN STUFF – For as durable as Andre Drummond has proven, Houston’s James Harden is nearly as reliable. Over the last five-plus seasons, Harden has missed only 16 games. Not only that, he’s played a minimum of 35 minutes a game each season, leading the league in minutes per game this season at 38. On top of that, they’re never easy minutes for Harden, who leads the league in usage rate at 38.6. (For comparison’s sake, last season Blake Griffin led the Pistons and averaged a career-high usage rate of 30.2.) Harden played 36 minutes in scoring 54 points at Orland on Friday night. While teammate Russell Westbrook sat out the back to back, Harden played 39 minutes. He finished 14 of 33 from the field, 4 of 13 from the 3-point arc and 7 of 8 at the line. “That’s what I respect about him most,” Pistons coach Dwane Casey said before the game. “Guys like him usually take a week off after you do as much as he does, but the young man … he’s been that way for years now. He’s just an ironman – just brings it.”