FAST BREAKDOWN
Three quick observations from Tuesday night’s 115-113 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse
FINISHING STRONG – What a difference a month makes. When the Pistons visited Cleveland on Dec. 3, they were coming off of a 132-98 win over San Antonio and pounded Cleveland nearly as decisively, winning 127-94. They scored at least 30 points in all four quarters and hit 18 of 35 from the 3-point arc. They also had Blake Griffin back in the lineup, a healthy Luke Kennard and appeared to be rounding into the form expected of them in preseason. Thirty-five days later, Griffin underwent surgery earlier in the day, Kennard remains out with knee tendinitis and the Pistons this time had to come back from a 15-point deficit – but they did, a satisfying finish to a grinding six-game, 12-day road trip. The Pistons took their first lead since early in the game on Tony Snell’s triple with 53 seconds left, fell behind on two Collin Sexton free throws with 33 seconds to go and regained the lead on Derrick Rose’s short jump shot with 26 seconds left. Andre Drummond blocked Darius Garland’s shot on the ensuing possession, but it fell back to Garland, who passed to Sexton along the right sideline. The play was whistled dead after Sexton’s runner had been rebounded by the Pistons and ruled a turnover for Sexton stepping on the sideline. But the call was overturned and instead of the Pistons having possession on the missed shot that Drummond rebounded, Cleveland got another chance, but the Pistons forced an awkward Sexton miss that resulted in a shot-clock violation with 2.1 seconds remaining. Andre Drummond split a pair of free throws with 1.5 to play and Cleveland was giving four-tenths of a second on an inbounds play, but the pass was deflected to end the game. Drummond recorded his sixth 20-20 game with 23 points and 20 rebounds and Rose scored 20 of his 24 points in the second half, also recording seven assists. Rose played a season-high 31 minutes.
SEKOU’S NIGHT – The murderer’s row of All-Star matchups for Sekou Doumbouya continued. After drawing Kawhi Leonard, Draymond Green and LeBron James in less than 100 hours for his first three NBA career starts, the 19-year-old matched up with Kevin Love in his fourth start. Doumbouya scored 15 points, hitting 6 of 9 shots. Love finished with 30, but most of his scoring was done against other defenders – including the two key 3-pointers he hit late in the third quarter when Cleveland took its five-point lead to 11. The highlight for Doumbouya came early when he soared over Cleveland’s Tristan Thompson – who moved to No. 6 on the franchise’s blocked-shot list during the game – for a powerful dunk, drawing a foul in the process. Doumbouya didn’t allow Love to score in their eight first-quarter minutes matching up. Love, in fact, didn’t get a shot off until Doumbouya exited. While he wasn’t as productive on the boards (two rebounds), he was active with three steals and showed off his quick, soft hands and nimble feet at both ends.
THE INJURY REPORT – In addition to the news on Griffin – the Pistons said after Tuesday’s surgery that he’ll undergo an extensive rehabilitation and have put no timetable on his return nor given an indication if they expect that to be this season or not – an update on Reggie Jackson was provided. Jackson, who was diagnosed with a stress reaction in his lower back after playing in the season’s first two games, saw his specialist while the team was in Los Angeles last week and it was determined that he was making satisfactory progress and can continue basketball-related activity toward his return. No timetable for when that will come was indicated. There was no update given on Kennard, who has missed 10 games – including the last eight – with tendinitis in both knees. Markieff Morris missed all six games of the road trip with a sprained foot. No update has been given on his status. Khyri Thomas also remains out with a foot injury suffered in October.