DETROIT – With a quarter of the season still to be played and the same need for a healthy roster that preceded a stretch that’s seen the Pistons win 9 of 11 games, they didn’t exactly clinch a playoff berth with Sunday’s sizzling 112-107 overtime win over Toronto.
It only felt that way.
And, truth be told, Sunday stands to be a turning point unless calamity strikes the Pistons.
Not only did they win to get back to .500 for the first time since they were 16-16 after beating Washington on Dec. 26, but the two teams closest on their heels, Orlando and Charlotte, both lost. So the Pistons moved into the No. 6 playoff spot by a half game over idle Brooklyn and hold a 2½-game cushion over both the Magic and Hornets, who are in eighth and ninth.
The Pistons won despite foul trouble that dogged Andre Drummond from the first quarter on and despite the fatigue that enveloped several others to plug the void Drummond’s absence triggered. Blake Griffin, who logged 42 hard minutes, was bent at the waist and tugging at his shorts at every deal ball in the fourth quarter.
So when Kyle Lowry, who scored 25 of his 35 points after halftime, drained a triple with 2:18 left to put Toronto ahead by five points, it looked like a hotly contested game before a hotly divided crowd would go the way it was supposed to go – won by the team Dwane Casey coached to 59 wins and the No. 1 seed last season and not the team he currently coaches.
But the Pistons closed with poise and assertiveness, scoring the game’s final 10 points and holding the Raptors scoreless on their final five possessions. Lowry’s three was the last points Toronto would score.
“I thought our guys found a way to win,” Casey said. “It wasn’t pretty. Made some mistakes down the stretch that were tough, but we made up for it with hard play. That’s one of the top defensive teams and when you’re not allowed to cut, move, you have a great advantage. But we fought through it.”
Griffin, who finished with 27 points and seven rebounds, got the comeback started with two free throws. Drummond challenged Pascal Siakam’s dunk attempt, forcing a miss, and Reggie Jackson tied the game with a corner three. After a missed triple from Lowry, Drummond grabbed the rebound and then hit two free throws with 46 seconds left. Danny Green and O.G. Anunoby missed 3-pointers on Toronto’s next possession, but the Raptors got another chance when Jackson missed a runner from 10 feet out with 15 seconds left. Lowry hurried downcourt but missed a rushed layup try and Luke Kennard’s two free throws iced it.
Kennard, a day after a career-high six 3-pointers, hit five more in a 19-point outing. Jackson matched his 19. It was Drummond’s impact that was felt most, though, as the Pistons were plus-27 in his 28 minutes, the last 10:28 played with five fouls.
“He was big time down the stretch,” Casey said. “Big rebounds. He was in foul trouble all night, but he played through it and was a big-time plus/minus guy. His rebounds down the stretch , his defense against (Marc) Gasol down the stretch, was huge.”
“We just kept doing what we’ve been doing this stretch,” Griffin said. “I thought guys were pretty gassed. But guys just dug in and everybody contributed. I was in the cold tub with Ish (Smith) looking at the stat sheet. It felt like Dre played 10 minutes, you look down he has 15 and 17. Luke’s 5 for 9 (from three). (Reggie Jackson), Wayne (Ellington), Ish – you go down the line, you can name something that somebody did to contribute to this win. When you play like that, it’s easy to buy in and believe.”
The Raptors sat Kawhi Leonard, but they came into the game with a 13-4 record – a better winning percentage than they hold otherwise – in his other games missed this season. His absence was an afterthought in a game that had Pistons and Raptors fans – and Pistons and Raptors, for that matter – at each other’s throats from the opening tip. There were four technicals called in the third quarter, two that got Zaza Pachulia ejected. That sparked a 15-0 Pistons run, though whether it was the emotional jolt of Pachulia’s ejection of merely Drummond’s return to the lineup is up for debate.
In fact, the atmosphere might have contributed to the two quick fouls Drummond picked up.
“It was a playoff atmosphere,” he said. ‘We just played tough the entire way. We didn’t back down when they got up into us and played physical. We didn’t back down for a second. We just kept playing and closed the game out the right way.”
“We’re developing an identity we’ve got to have to win big time in this league,” Casey said. “That was a playoff game. That’s the way it’s going to be in the playoffs.”
The Pistons aren’t there quite yet. But if they get there, remember Sunday and the 10-0 run in the last two minutes of overtime against Casey’s former team, which is now 0-2 against the Pistons this season.
“In the beginning of the season, we were winning close games and we were winning despite what we were doing,” Griffin said. “And now we’re winning close games because of what we’re doing. And that’s a good sign. This is the time to be doing that. Hopefully we can carry that over into the playoffs.”