Three quick observations from Wednesday night’s 121-101 win over the Orlando Magic at Little Caesars Arena
BOUNCING BACK – After enduring Monday’s traumatic experience – when the Pistons squandered a 15-point lead in the final four minutes and lost to the Clippers in overtime – they spotted Orlando a 9-0 lead, missing their first seven shots. It got better. And then it got chippy. The Pistons, behind phenomenal play from their bench and a star turn from Alec Burks, turned that nine-point deficit into a 19-point lead late in the first half when in the final minute a hip check by Mo Wagner on Killian Hayes into the Pistons bench led to a scuffle, a lengthy review and three ejections – Wagner, Hayes and Hamidou Diallo. Hayes appeared to strike Wagner in the back of the head with his right forearm after objecting to his cheap shot and Diallo pushed Wagner from behind and was cited for inflaming the incident. Several Orlando players left the Magic bench and would seem to be in line for automatic suspensions to be handed out from the commissioner’s office. The Pistons pushed their lead to 25 late in the third quarter before a 10-0 Orlando run – fueled by a five-point possession made possible by a flagrant foul whistled on Burks – pulled the Magic within 15. That’s where it stood starting the fourth quarter and Orlando never came closer than 12.
BURKS, BEY BOMBS AWAY – Alec Burks and Saddiq Bey combined for 60 points off the bench and Burks’ performance was one for the record books. He didn’t miss a shot until his last in the final seconds, hitting 10 straight, six of them from the 3-point arc, and all six of his free throws. Burks’ 32 points were a season high and Bey’s 28 matched his season high. The Pistons got 76 points off their bench. Kevin Knox lost his foothold on a rotation spot before Wednesday’s ejections forced Dwane Casey to reshuffle the deck. Casey dropped a hint before the game when he was asked about former Kentucky teammates Knox and Hamidou Diallo’s play with the second unit. “Hami is outplaying Kevin right now,” Casey said. “Nothing huge, just Hami’s energy, his pace and making plays. Not orthodox in a lot of ways, but he gets it done. Right now I love his energy. He stayed ready and he’s taking advantage of that opportunity. … Kevin had a streak where he was shooting the heck out of the ball, defending at a high level and he’s got to get back to that.” Diallo certainly justified Casey’s enthusiasm with his hyperactive first-half play before his banishment. Diallo was one of three players off the bench who combined for 41 first-half points to help the Pistons turn the game around
BETTER SHOWING – The Pistons rank 29th in the NBA in defense and Dwane Casey admitted the obvious before the game: “Our offense is way ahead of our defense,” he said. “Our offense is clicking a little bit. I wish our defense was there. I know coach (Jerome) Allen (who runs Casey’s defensive system) is working day and night, but it’s a process.” The Pistons held Orlando to 47 points in the first half and contained Rookie of the Year front-runner Paolo Banchero, who averages 21.1 points, finished with 15 points but hit just 4 of 12 shots. One of the components of the Pistons defense was rookie Jalen Duren’s rebounding. Duren, who leads all rookies in rebounds and offensive rebounds. Duren grabbed 18 rebounds, one off his season high, in 34 minutes, including eight on the offensive glass to top the seven he recorded in Monday’s loss to the Clippers. The Pistons have held two teams to under 100 points – the Clippers to 96 in a Nov. 17 loss at Los Angeles and the Heat, also to 96, in a Dec. 6 win at Miami. They nearly made it three in limiting Orlando to 41 percent shooting.