If the Pistons were giving out game balls for their win over Minnesota, they’ll first have to increase the equipment budget.
One goes to Saddiq Bey for the 18 first-half points to allow the Pistons to take a one-point halftime lead after spotting the Timberwolves the game’s first 10 points. Another goes to Bojan Bogdanovic, whose 13 third-quarter points sparked the dominant 36-23 stretch that put the Pistons in command.
Save one for Nerlens Noel, who was fourth among four big men in the playing time pecking order only because the organizational priority was the development of Jalen Duren, Isaiah Stewart and Marvin Bagley III. With all three out, Noel’s four blocked shots and three steals in the first 10 minutes of that third quarter were every bit as critical at the defensive end as Bogdanovic’s star turn at the other end.
Jaden Ivey and Killian Hayes will share a game ball, which would be symbolic for the way they shared quarterbacking duties and the basketball with teammates. Each scored 18 points while splitting 17 assists (nine for Hayes, eight for Ivey) and seven rebounds (four for Ivey, three for Hayes) about as evenly as possible. Hamidou Diallo gets one, too, more for the gumption to take on the assignment of guarding 7-foot-1 Rudy Gobert down the stretch than for the 18 points contributed off the bench.
And make sure to designate one for Isaiah Livers. Three points and four rebounds on two shots in 18 minutes might seem underwhelming, but Livers is on the list in part to reward his diligence during the six weeks he missed with a shoulder sprain though more for snuffing out the last best hope Minnesota had at a comeback.
If the Timberwolves were going to get back in Wednesday’s game – one they expected to win based on the four-game win streak they took to Detroit, the gutted state of their opponent’s frontcourt and the sting they still felt from blowing an 18-point lead to lose at home to the Pistons on New Year’s Eve – it was likely going to be star Anthony Edwards shooting them back in it.
Edwards played 10 first-half minutes, then shut things down after being listed questionable before the game with hip soreness. But when the Pistons took control in the third quarter, Edwards was deemed fit to play. For the last two minutes of the third quarter and the first five of the fourth, Livers draped himself all over Edwards. In those seven minutes, Edwards was blanked, missing two shots.
When Livers went to the bench with seven minutes left and the Pistons ahead by 20 points, Edwards immediately came to life. He scored 15 points after that, hitting 6 of 10 shots, but it was too little, too late.
“He did a good job,” Casey said. “His attention to detail is the key. A lot of times we get caught up in a game, start going fast. A great shooter like Edwards sees it go through that first time, then he’s hot and it’s hard to turn that off. His attention to detail kind of set the tone along with Nerlens in the third quarter.”
Defensive stopper wasn’t the role anyone had in mind for Livers when Troy Weaver, using the pick the Pistons got from New York for Derrick Rose, drafted the Michigan star with the 42nd pick in 2021. Livers’ calling card is his 3-point stroke on a lithe 6-foot-7 frame, but he saw a path to a certain role by embracing the opportunity to be a shutdown defender.
“I take pride in that and you look around,” Livers said, glancing at the nameplates above adjoining stalls in the Pistons locker room, “not to say nobody in here can guard, but I just want to be that guy coach Casey says, ‘go guard Luka (Doncic), go guard Devin Booker, go guard D(onovan) Mitch(ell). Slow ’em down, use your body, use your quickness.’ I enjoy it. It’s fun. You play defense, the offense will take care of itself.”
To be sure, it was while guarding Dallas’ MVP candidate Doncic in a Dec. 1 overtime win when Livers, crashing into a screen, suffered an AC joint injury to the right shoulder. Two weeks later, nearing his return, he suffered a setback when he got a little too aggressive in his rehabilitation.
“We were playing (three on three). Definitely, totally my idea,” Livers said. “I told this dude, ‘Let’s test it out for real, come set a screen on me.’ Guarding a G League guy, came off – boom! It was a regular hit like I took today. Just wasn’t ready at the time. I applaud them. They did the right job and set me down a little longer. I didn’t want to sit that long, but they were just being more cautious with it because it’s my shooting arm, too.”
Injuries have been the obstacle that’s kept Livers from flowering into a more prominent role, starting with the broken foot and subsequent surgery he endured in March 2021 to end his Michigan career. That limited him to 19 games as an NBA rookie. Then came a hip injury in training camp that spilled over into the first two games of the regular season. Then the shoulder. Is Livers snakebit by the injury bug?
“Man, I’m human. I think about that,” he said. “The foot thing, out of my jurisdiction. That’s a wear and tear. The hip thing, definitely on me. I’ve got to learn to take off days and take care of my body. I’m in the gym too much, running around too much. The shoulder thing, I was playing great D on Luka, moving screen, bad luck. End of the day, I know one of the three things I can control, so that makes me look forward to a better future.”
Before the Pistons imagined Livers as a defensive stopper, they valued him for his shooting and his basketball IQ. He’s an easy fit in any lineup and his ebullient personality makes him an easy fit in any locker room. Just as Livers stayed engaged as a rookie during his months-long absence, he did so again during his shoulder rehabilitation.
“When I was out, they did a good job just talking basketball, keeping me engaged. Not that they needed to, but that’s what you want to hear from your teammates. You want to hear they care. They want you in the game. Like Killian, he was probably one of the happiest dudes that I was back today because I get to go guard the best player.”
Livers had just moved into the starting lineup at the time of his injury, in large measure for his emergence as a one-on-one defensive ace. He opened eyes during an October game when the Pistons, out of options, gave Livers one of the NBA’s most impossible assignments.
“We put him on Trae Young kind of out of necessity,” Casey said. “He embraced that role. That’s when we first started seeing him in that role of being a defender on a lot of positions. Not only at point guard, ones, twos, threes and fours. That’s something he’s developed and kind of embraced, which is a great thing.”
For taking on those tough jobs and for the way his easygoing personality lights up the locker room, his coaches and teammates are delighted to see Livers back in uniform.
“I love Liv, man. That’s one of my good pals,” Ivey said. “Just happy to see him back on the court. It was good seeing him out there tonight and he’s going to bring a high level of energy for us as a team. That’s what he does. If he’s not knocking down shots on the offensive end, he’s definitely going to bring 100 percent on the defensive end.”