AUBURN HILLS – On a night Blake Griffin missed more than twice as many shots as he made – it happens to the best of ’em – and a cohort of four wing players missed 10 times more than they made, the Pistons had to revert to an old formula: Andre Drummond and Reggie Jackson down the stretch.
But that 93-89 win over Dallas on Thursday required more than an old formula; it required the Reggie Jackson of old. And that’s what the Pistons got. Jackson’s fourth quarter accounted for 17 of the 30 Pistons points – seven of his own plus five assists. Lost amid a lot of other noise over the past week is Jackson’s improved play: 17.8 points on 48 percent shooting and 39 percent 3-point shooting, 6.5 assists, 1.0 turnover and 4.5 rebounds.
“The last couple of games, he’s really elevated his offensive game and doing an excellent job in pick and rolls,” Dwane Casey said after Friday’s practice. “He’s doing a good job of making some tough shots, but he’s been more aggressive and more assertive in his pick and rolls, which is what we need.”
Casey knew coming in that no one would face a more challenging adjustment to the offense he brought with him from Toronto than Jackson. Casey saw it firsthand with Kyle Lowry. He knew it wouldn’t be seamless, but he also knew it could – should – click eventually. Lowry’s fifth straight All-Star berth stands as testament.
Jackson acknowledges that he’s becoming increasingly acclimated, but there’s more to it than that.
“Still getting acclimated to it, even 50 games in, but it’s something that I continue to work at,” he said. “I’m picking my spots and some shots are going in. We’re just playing better on offense overall. Fortunate enough to see some shots go in and starting to feel healthy.”
Ah, yes. There is that. The fact Griffin on Thursday was named an All-Star for the first time in three seasons underscores the value of having a full off-season of conditioning and skills refinement, something lost to him for – yup – three seasons. Jackson has been idled each of the last two summers, first to rest the left knee that ravaged his 2016-17 season and then to rehab the right ankle that undermined his 2017-18.
“I think people forget, I didn’t work out all summer,” he said. “The season’s been my summer workouts. So just starting to feel better, starting to feel more acclimated. I hadn’t really played in two years that much, consistently, so feeling better about myself.”
Jackson’s pick-and-roll forays that end at the rim have been less frequent this season, though Casey says he’s running a representative number and is encouraged to attack aggressively. Even there, though, Jackson says it’s an adjustment to run them in a lineup that includes both Griffin and Drummond.
“Different spacing. We have two bigs. I know Blake’s expanded his game, but we’re probably closer than most teams to traditional ’90s basketball in terms of having two bigs, so just got to figure out the spacing on the floor is a little bit different, be aggressive in different spots.”
With Thursday’s trade deadline bearing down on NBA teams, the best hope the Pistons have of adding impact help is most likely Jackson’s continued rebound and the return of Ish Smith. Shoring up their play at point guard figures to go a long way toward making the Pistons more like the 13-7 team they were over the first 20 games than the 9-21 team that followed up.
Smith, Casey said Friday, should return either Saturday or Monday after missing 25 of the last 28 games with a right adductor injury.
“Missing that pace – our roadrunner, our ball of energy,” Jackson grinned. “That’s my guy. I can’t wait to get him back.”