game recap

Keith Langlois

Three quick observations from Sunday afternoon’s 103-81 loss to the Chicago Bulls at United Center

THAT’S A WRAP – It wasn’t the season the Pistons envisioned – those dreams withered when Cade Cunningham was lost after 12 games – but it was one that produced two high-end rookies and sets them up to land another player who can join Cunningham, Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren as cornerstones of their future. Cunningham and seven others sat out the finale, a fitting end to a season disrupted constantly by injury, as the Pistons LOST at Chicago – the 15th straight loss to the Bulls. And when the clock hit zeroes, it started the metaphorical clock ticking on a critical off-season for general manager Troy Weaver and the front office with critical decisions looming. The Pistons finished 17-65, which means they’ll pick no lower than fifth in June’s draft. They’ll learn their exact fate on May 16 when they’ll carry 14 percent odds of landing the No. 1 pick and a 52 percent shot to land one of the top four picks that the lottery determines. Because they finished with the NBA’s worst record, they can’t fall past fifth. A season-high 25 turnovers were their undoing in the finale, the Bulls finishing with a 28-point advantage (30-2) in points off turnovers. The Bulls were locked into the 10th spot, the last play-in berth, which sends them to play Toronto, the ninth seed, for the right to advice to play the loser of the 7-8 game between Miami and Atlanta for the eighth playoff seed and the right to play East No. 1 seed Milwaukee in a first-round series. They played their starters in the first half but used most of them sparingly in the second.

ROOKIE REWIND – Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren have both logged more impressive games over the course of their rookie seasons, but they both ended with outings that underscore their development over the course of the season and has the Pistons so enthused about the future of each. Ivey went out with 16 points, fouling out, and finished his season by scoring in double figures 39 straight times, a Pistons rookie record. Since the All-Star break, Ivey averaged 19.4 points and 7.3 assists while upping his 3-point shooting from 33 percent before the break to 37 percent after. Duren spent a chunk of his 35 minutes going against ex-Pistons center Andre Drummond, the dominant rebounder of his generation, and the NBA’s youngest player showed he can hold his own with anybody, grabbing 18 boards. He’s got skills development ahead of him and needs to hone his defensive instincts, but his physical tools can’t be taught and his motor runs hot – essential ingredients to hasten a young player’s learning curve. Duren led all rookies in rebounds, offensive rebounds and dunks and his 19 double-doubles are most for a teen in NBA history behind Moses Malone, Dwight Howard and LeBron James. A third player, James Wiseman, is essentially a rookie even though he was a part of the 2020 draft. Wiseman played three games in college, missed all of the 2022-23 season with a knee injury and played sparingly in his two other seasons on a Golden State team with no tolerance for a young player’s mistakes. He finished with 11 points and 12 rebounds in his finale and averaged 12.8 points and 7.9 rebounds for the Pistons after arriving at the February trade deadline.

SIGNS OF PROMISE – The Pistons fell behind 22-9 and looked in a fog early, the sort of response coaches fear with early tipoffs – the finale was a noon start in Chicago – but a 16-4 close to end the first quarter was sparked by 5 of 9 3-point shooting with two players whose perimeter shooting could unlock their futures leading the way. Killian Hayes, a 27.7 percent 3-point shooter, hit 2 of 3 in the quarter; and Marvin Bagley III, a 27.4 percent 3-point shooter, was 2 of 2, both from the left corner. Hayes had a two-month stretch from early November to early January when he hit 35.6 percent from the 3-point arc on four attempts a game, but before and after he was below 20 percent. Only once since the All-Star break did Hayes make more than a single triple in a game before finishing the season by hitting 6 of 15 in the final two games. Hayes chalked up seven assists, giving him 26 consecutive games with at least five, and followed up his career-high 29 points to lead Friday’s win at Indiana by scoring 26 more. Bagley isn’t likely to ever be a high-volume 3-point shooter, but with his future likely at power forward with Jalen Duren and James Wiseman in the picture he’d help himself and the Pistons by developing into a credible threat. Bagley hit 7 of 15 from the 3-point arc over his previous seven games before finishing up 2 of 4 in the finale.

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Pistons fall in finale, starting the clock on a critical off-season

detebranch

Friday night’s 122-115 win over the Indiana Pacers

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Pistons Playback 04-07-23 Pacers

Three quick observations from Friday night’s 122-115 win over the Indiana Pacers at Gainbridge Fieldhouse

WELCOME WIN – How are things going for the Pistons these days? Less than two minutes into the game, Marvin Bagley III – returning after missing two games in concussion protocol after colliding with teammate Jalen Duren on Sunday – was rushed into the game to replace James Wiseman, injured after colliding with – you guessed it – teammate Jalen Duren. Wiseman took a hard right forearm and elbow to the face from Duren, coming down with a rebound, in the first two minutes to suffer facial lacerations and the Pistons – already missing eight players – got a little thinner. The Pistons fell behind 12-2 but rebounded to match their highest-scoring first half of the season, 73, and led by as many as 21 before halftime, then got Wiseman back in the third quarter with a bandage under his left eye. He wasn’t himself, clearly, and finished with just three points and three rebounds in seven minutes, five after halftime. The Pistons led by 13 with seven minutes to play, saw the lead dwindle to six but hung on to get a very welcome win despite their hardships. The win snapped an 11-game losing streak and allowed the Pistons to avoid matching the franchise-low 16 wins set in the 1979-80 season. Cade Cunningham, Bojan Bogdanovic, Alec Burks, Isaiah Stewart, Isaiah Livers, Rodney McGruder, Hamidou Diallo and Eugene Omoruyi all missed the game, leaving the Pistons with nine players to start the game including two-way players Buddy Boeheim and Jared Rhoden (10 points, six rebounds). Duren (10 points, 10 rebounds) recorded his 19th&nbsp;double-double of the season, trailing only Moses Malone, Dwight Howard and LeBron James for double-doubles by a teenager.

BACKCOURT PUNCH – Jaden Ivey’s closing rush to his rookie season continued apace with 29 points and nine assists, but this time he got plenty of help from Killian Hayes. The two combined for 36 points and 10 assists to key the 73-point first half. Hayes has been in a shooting slump, hitting just 15.5 percent from the 3-point arc and 37.5 percent overall in 19 games since the All-Star break, but after hitting 7 of 10 in the first half and 3 of 5 from three Hayes missed his first five shots of the second half before hitting 2 of 3 to finish 9 of 19 and log a career-high 28 points, helped by going a perfect 7 of 7 at the foul line in the second half. Despite the shooting struggles, Hayes has continued to mature as a playmaker. Hayes extended his streak of games with five or more assists to 26 by halftime, finishing with six. That’s the longest such streak by any Pistons player since Chauncey Billups had 32 in a row in 2005-06. Cory Joseph gave the Pistons 18 points off the bench, hitting 4 of 9 from the 3-point line. Ivey has been a markedly better player over the second half of the season and has kicked it up another notch in the home stretch. Coming into Friday’s game, Ivey in his past seven had averaged 23.0 points and 8.1 assists while shooting 46 percent overall and 42 percent from the 3-point arc.

BAGLEY BACK – Marvin Bagley III returned to the lineup after missing two games while in concussion protocol. Bagley is on track to play 42 games this season if he suits up for Sunday’s finale against Chicago, missing 40 games with four distinct injuries. When he’s played this season, Bagley’s been good – and he was again on Friday, giving the Pistons 14 points and five rebounds in 23 minutes. Bagley missed the first 13 games of the season with a bone bruise of his knee, escaping more serious injury, suffered in preseason. He returned to play the next 22 games before suffering a broken hard Jan. 2, which sidelined him for 20 games, returning Feb. 25. Bagley played the next eight games before missing three with ankle soreness and then played seven more before colliding with Wendell Carter Jr. in last Sunday’s game at Orlando and getting driving into teammate Jalen Duren, incurring a concussion.

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Backcourt powers Pistons to win at Indiana to snap losing skid

Three quick observations from Wednesday night’s 123-108 loss to the Brooklyn Nets at Little Caesars Arena

THAT’S A WRAP – It was Fan Appreciation Night and for fans who appreciate scoring, it certainly lived up to its billing early. The teams combined for 81 first-quarter points, but Brooklyn had 47 of those points because they Nets were doing a lot of scoring in increments of three to the Pistons’ two. The Nets hit 10 of 18 triples in the first quarter alone and, though they would eventually cool off to 39.5 percent while taking exactly half their 86 shots from three, the early lead was too much for an injury-depleted Pistons roster to overcome. The Pistons led 27-21 at the midway point of the first quarter just a minute after Joe Harris took the place of Cam Johnson in Brooklyn’s lineup after Johnson limped off. Harris hit five consecutive triples and 6 of 8 overall before the quarter was out to propel Brooklyn to a 47-34 lead. The Nets stretched their lead to 17 by halftime, though the Pistons pulled within four at various points of the second half. The Pistons were missing eight players, including the heart of their 3-point arsenal with Bojan Bogdanovic, Alec Burks, Isaiah Livers and Rodney McGruder all out in addition to Cade Cunningham. Brooklyn began the night in the sixth spot, a game ahead of Miami, but with a 3-0 sweep of the Heat in their season series the Nets win the tiebreaker. With two games remaining, Miami can no longer overtake the Nets.

IVEY RISING – If the NBA knew last June what it knows now about Jaden Ivey, he’s not wearing a Pistons uniform today. While his 3-point shooting – Ivey hit 2 of 6 in the home finale and came into the game hitting 37 percent from the arc since the All-Star break – has been a pleasant development, it’s his ability as a playmaker that’s been the eye-opener. Ivey racked up 10 more assists on Wednesday after averaging 7.1 a game over 12 March games. Ivey also extended his streak of scoring in double figures to 37 games, a Pistons rookie record, finishing with 23 points. He gave the Pistons a scare late in the third quarter when he got fouled by Joe Harris and appeared to tweak his knee when he came down. Ivey reacted by slamming the ball to the hardwood and drawing a technical foul, then walked off gingerly and headed to the locker room for examination. But he was back on the court shortly and was back in the game to start the fourth quarter. The other Pistons rookie finishing on an uptick, Jalen Duren, scored 18 points on 9 of 11 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds.

HAMPTON HEATS UP – Eugene Omoruyi drew his fourth start when Isaiah Livers, who turned an ankle in Tuesday’s first half but returned after spending time in the locker room, was ruled out of Wednesday’s home finale – making it eight Pistons on the injured list. And Omoruyi made it nine at halftime when he, too, suffered a left ankle sprain. Another late-season pickup, R.J. Hampton, took Omoruyi’s spot in the second-half starting lineup and had a performance that will give the Pistons front office something to chew on as it mulls Hampton’s future. Hampton scored 14 straight Pistons points late in the third quarter, pulling the Pistons within four points, and finished with a career-high 27. Hampton, the 24th pick in the 2020 draft by Denver, was waived by Orlando and picked up by the Pistons in February. He’ll be a free agent after the season, but outings like Wednesday’s are the intrigue with Hampton. Omoruyi hit 2 of 4 from the 3-point arc in the first half and finished with six points and two rebounds. With Hamidou Diallo headed for free agency, the role of a bench grinder could be Omoruyi’s for the taking – though, as always, the roster will be built from the top down and decisions at the back end will be determined by what other moves the Pistons make via trade, free agency and the draft. But Omoruyi has certainly made a good impression with his hustle, willingness to sacrifice his body and nose for the ball.

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Injuries wear down Pistons, who drop home finale to Nets

Three quick observations after Tuesday night’s 118-105 loss to the Miami Heat at Little Caesars Arena

FINISHING KICK – It will be an off-season to roll up the organization sleeves and get to work fortifying the roster, but Troy Weaver and Dwane Casey can pop in the videotape of the season’s penultimate home game if they want to buoy their spirits about what the Pistons future can look like when Cade Cunningham returns. Rookies Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren gave the home crowd something to carry into the summer with fabulous performances against a Miami opponent desperately chasing wins to avoid the NBA play-in tournament. Duren’s 18th double-double – he finished with 20 points and 14 boards  – means that the only three teenagers in NBA history with more are either already in the Hall of Fame or headed there: Moses Malone (50), Dwight Howard (46) and LeBron James (21). Ivey, who stretched his franchise record for consecutive games of double-figure scoring to 36, is the first Pistons rookie to lead the NBA in assists (5.1 per game) among first-year players since Joe Dumars in 1985-86. Ivey’s 30 points, two off his season high of 32, left him behind only Grant Hill among Pistons rookie scorers dating to Hill’s 1994-95 season.

NEW LOOK – Dwane Casey maintained that the least ready of all possible big man pairings from among the foursome of James Wiseman, Jalen Duren, Marvin Bagley III and Isaiah Stewart would be the two least experienced, Wiseman and Duren. But with Bagley joining Stewart on the injured list, Casey started the two young centers next to each other for the first time. Wiseman and Duren overlapped for first 6½ minutes and played Miami to a draw. Casey also let them close the game along with a three-guard lineup of Jaden Ivey, Killian Hayes and Cory Joseph over the final five minutes and that didn’t go as well. Miami used a 9-0 run to take command of the game and scored on each of its last 10 possessions. The Pistons gave up a 15-0 run in the first half and fell 17 points down, cut the deficit to seven by halftime and opened the third quarter with an 8-0 run to take the lead only to see Miami answer with a 13-0 run. But again the Pistons rallied back within two points late in the third quarter and they led by a point with five minutes to play. Jimmy Butler, in playmaker mode for much of the game, scored 18 of his 27 in the fourth quarter to power Miami’s win. Bagley missed the game after sustaining a neck injury during Sunday’s game at Orlando that led to concussion protocol. The Pistons, in addition to Bagley, were without six other players, as well: Isaiah Stewart, Bojan Bogdanovic, Alec Burks, Hamidou Diallo, Cade Cunningham and Rodney McGruder.

DODGED ONE – Isaiah Livers has shown everything required to be a valuable complementary player – he’s Dwane Casey’s most versatile perimeter defender, he’s an above-average 3-point shooter, he’s good in transition and he’s got terrific positional size – but he’s been dogged by injury since his college season came to an end at Michigan due to a foot injury two years ago. It appeared his buzzard’s luck would continue in Tuesday’s first quarter when, moments after draining a 3-point shot, Livers came down in teammate Jaden Ivey’s foot and suffered what appeared a potentially serious sprained ankle. Livers, fouled on the play by Kyle Lowry, stayed in the game to make three free throws, but was subbed out immediately when R.J. Hampton committed an intentional foul and Livers went to the locker room. He returned about 20 minutes later, however, midway through the second quarter. Livers, who figures prominently in next season’s plans, has averaged 6.5 points and 2.7 rebounds in 23 minutes a game in his second season, missing 27 games with hip, shoulder and ankle injuries. He finished with 15 points and hit 4 of 6 from the 3-point arc in 24 minutes.

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Heat need late push to escape Ivey-and-Duren powered Pistons

Three quick observations from Sunday night’s 128-102 loss to the Orlando Magic at Amway Center

SOUR SECOND – The season’s final week got off to a shaky start for the Pistons, who trailed by 12 before the mid-point of the first quarter, and went completely off the rails during a stoppage-plagued second quarter rife with clock malfunctions, replay reviews and Pistons turnovers. The Pistons, who didn’t get their second basket until nearly nine minutes had been played in the quarter, tied their season low of 15 points in a second quarter, shooting 3 of 16 from the field and committing eight turnovers to fall 19 points down at halftime. Orlando hit 6 of 7 from the 3-point arc to build its first-quarter lead and finished at 51.5 percent from three while shooting 57.3 percent overall. The Pistons also were on the wrong side of the points-off-turnovers category, 27-12. The Pistons have lost 20 of 21 games and nine straight through a run of injuries. They have four games remaining and need one win to avoid tying for the worst record in franchise history at 16-66 in 1979-80. The Pistons and Magic split their season series, 2-2.

CLOSING STRONG – Jaden Ivey’s scoring has gotten attention, his streak of 34 double-digit scoring games breaking Dave Bing’s rookie record and being extended to 35 with another 14-point outing, but Ivey’s progression as a set-up guy has been at least as compelling a storyline as his season winds down. Ivey went ahead of Grant Hill’s 70-game total of 353 assists and into third behind only Isaiah Thomas (546) and Cade Cunningham (394) among Pistons in their first 70 career games. He finished with six assists on a night the Pistons struggled to finish at 41 percent. Ivey has gotten consistently better as a playmaker as the season has unfolded, especially his feel for manipulating pick-and-roll opportunities. He’s learned the value of decelerating after turning the corner to pin his defender and give the roll man the opportunity to create favorable angles while also allowing perimeter shooters to find cracks in the defense. Ivey is making a strong case for the All-Rookie team, but Dwane Casey acknowledged before the game that Orlando’s Paolo Banchero, the No. 1 pick in last June’s draft, is the likely Rookie of the Year. Banchero finished with 14 points and nine rebounds but went just 4 of 11 at the foul line.

BAGLEY HURT – Already missing six players, the Pistons could ill afford to see another fall to injury. But that’s what happened. Marvin Bagley III played only nine minutes before departing with neck soreness, the result of a collision with Wendell Carter Jr. that sent Bagley sprawling and banging the back of his head and neck against teammate Jalen Duren. To add insult to literal injury, Bagley’s opportunity to shoot free throws was taken away when Magic coach Jamahl Mosely successfully challenged to overturn the foul whistled on Carter. Without Bagley, the Pistons were down to only James Wiseman and Jalen Duren for big men, requiring Isaiah Livers, who started at small forward, to play most of  his minutes at power forward and split time there with Eugene Omoruyi. Omoruyi’s activity allowed him to get open for eight shots in 12 first-half minutes, but he made just one and shot 0 of 6 from the 3-point line. Omoruyi rebounded, hitting a pair of threes in the first two minutes of the third quarter in Bagley’s spot. He finished with 19 points and hit 3 of 11 triples. The Pistons were without Bojan Bogdanovic, Alec Burks, Cade Cunningham, Isaiah Stewart, Rodney McGruder and Hamidou Diallo.

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Sputtering 2nd quarter Pistons undoing in loss at Orlando

Three quick observations from Friday night’s 121-115 loss to the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center

MEASURING STICK – Two teams with similar records and at similar points amid rebuilding projects used each other as measuring sticks in a well-played and tightly contested game in which neither team led by double digits. They’ll see each other again in May – at the NBA draft lottery, where they’ll again be on equal footing. Their lottery picks from the past three drafts – minus Cade Cunningham, the No. 1 pick in 2021 when Houston picked second for the first of consecutive No. 2 picks – were on display at Toyota Center with Jalen Green, who went to Houston after Cunningham was off the board, scoring 32 while being awarded 16 free throws while his backcourt partner, Kevin Porter Jr. scored 33 and hit 7 of 13 from the 3-point line.The Pistons, Rockets and San Antonio Spurs have clinched the three worst records which gives them the best odds at landing both the No. 1 pick (14 percent) and any top-four pick (52.1 percent). The only benefit to finishing with the worst record for the Pistons would be to guarantee picking no lower than fifth. The Pistons, Rockets and Spurs already are guaranteed a top-seven pick. The Pistons were hurt most at the foul line, where Houston outscored them by 16 and got 19 more attempts.

ROOKIE RECORD – Jaden Ivey broke Dave Bing’s franchise record for rookies by scoring in double figures for a 34th straight game. Ivey got there on the first possession of the second half with a triple – the same way the game started. Ivey finished with 18 points and nine assists with several dazzling passes in the mix. Ivey’s 3-point shooting has picked up as the season has unfolded, though he finished 2 of 9 on Friday when he missed his last six. Ivey shot 33.1 percent from the 3-point line before the All-Star break but came into Friday’s game shooting 37.1 since. In addition to jumping over Bing in the franchise history book, Ivey also tied Trae Young for fifth place among rookies across all franchises over the last 20 seasons and if he pushes the streak of double-dight scoring to 38 he’ll finish his rookie season behind only Blake Griffin (67), Karl-Anthony Towns (41) and Anthony Edwards (40) over that span. Ivey joined his anticipated backcourt partner, Cade Cunningham, as the only rookies in franchise history with 1,000 points, 300 assists, 250 rebounds and 100 3-pointers made.

FRONTCOURT FINDINGS – The Pistons are still sorting out their frontcourt and that’s a process that isn’t going to end this season – they didn’t have a single game since trading for James Wiseman in February where they had all four of their young big men available – but, as in many games, Friday’s narrow loss gave glimpses of how all three of Marvin Bagley III, James Wiseman and Jalen Duren can contribute. Bagley was aggressive early in the game against Rockets rookie Jabari Smith Jr., scoring 11 of his 21 in the first quarter when he took seven shots and attempted four free throws. Wiseman, on his 22ndbirthday, picked up two quick fouls in a scoreless first quarter, but scored all eight of his points in the second when he also blocked two shots. But Wiseman wound up fouling out in just 23 minutes of playing time. Duren, called for a curious technical foul when he raised his arm to fight through a screen and made contact with Kenyon Martin Jr.’s head, was active on the boards in grabbing six rebounds in nine-first half minutes on his way to an 11-point, 10-rebound night.

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Free throw disparity too much for Pistons to overcome in Houston

Three quick observations from Wednesday night’s 107-106 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder at Paycom Center

BUZZER BEATER – Jaden Ivey, coming off a career night, was maybe on his way to topping it. But a critical call with less than two minutes to play sent Ivey to the bench and the Pistons to a tough loss – at the buzzer – to a playoff-hungry Oklahoma City team.

The Thunder came into the night in the 10th&nbsp;spot – the final play-in berth – but with the same record as 11th-place Dallas and just two in the loss column out of the No. 6 seed to avoid the play-in tournament. The Thunder used a 10-0 run midway through the third quarter to take an eight-point lead. But the Pistons tied the game at 89 early in the fourth quarter and again at 100 on Ivey’s fifth triple with 3:35 to play. Ivey fouled out with 1:48 left – wiping out a bucket and a free throw attempt – when he was whistled for a charge against OKC rookie Jaylen Williams. Dwane Casey challenged the call, but it was upheld. Cory Joseph took his spot and his 3-pointer with 13.5 seconds left gave the Pistons a 106-105 lead. They forced a miss and a jump ball with seven seconds to play. Oklahoma City retained possession but Josh Giddey missed a contested shot from the right side of the basket, but the scramble for the rebound saw Thunder rookie Jaylen Williams tip in the game-winner. Ivey opened scoring with a triple just 13 seconds into Wednesday’s game but had to sit just 4:34 into the game when he picked up his second foul. But Ivey, coming off a 32-point, eight-rebound, eight-assist outing, found his footing again after re-entering the game to start the second quarter. He finished with 24 points and nine assists. And when it was over, he had joined Dave Bing atop the Pistons leaderboard for consecutive games scoring in double figures for a rookie with 33. Ivey, who also played just half of the third quarter before sitting with his fourth foul, put together another strong game as he furthers his case to be named to the NBA’s All-Rookie team.

1-2 PUNCH – The Pistons are committed to Jalen Duren and James Wiseman as their centers and the history of NBA big men says it takes longer for them to reach their fully realized versions than perimeter players. The present is looking pretty good for both players, but Wednesday’s game was a timely reminder that even the most talented young big men cycle through ups and downs – sometimes in the same game. It was a case of two halves for Duren and Wiseman at Oklahoma City. The two big men – Wiseman, 21, and Duren, 19 – combined for 21 points and 12 rebounds in the first half alone to give the Pistons a 29-21 rebounding edge to pave the way for 16 second-chance points and a two-point halftime lead. They wound up combining for 27 points and 17 rebounds. Wiseman’s first shot of the second half, a hook shot to pull the Pistons within three points, came with just more than a minute to play in the game. He finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Duren, notably springier and more productive since returning from a six-game absence to allow lingering sprains to both ankles to recover, added just one point and one rebound in the second half to finish with 10 and six. Dwane Casey said earlier this week that he would consider giving Duren a start at some point in the season’s home stretch mainly to experiment with lineup combinations. “It’s not who starts, it’s who produces and who’s in at the end of the game if it comes to that. Haven’t put a lot of thought into who’s starting. They both get the proper minutes and produce. J.D. one night, Wiseman the other.” Getting them both going on the same night – and for both halves – is the next step.

BACK IN OKC – Not much more than a month ago, Eugene Omoruyi was wearing Oklahoma City’s uniform, starting on a two-way deal and having it converted to a standard contract. But the Thunder, notorious for cycling the bottom of their roster, waived Omoruyi on Feb. 26 and the Pistons picked him up on a 10-day contract just five days later. They retained him with a second 10-day deal after the first expired and then signed him to a standard contract when that expired. Omoruyi played 28 minutes and finished with 14 points and five rebounds while hitting 3 of 5 from the 3-point line.

Omoruyi, 26, averaged 4.9 points and 2.3 rebounds in 12 minutes a game while playing 23 games for the Thunder this season after breaking into the NBA a year ago to play four games with Dallas. He’s played 13 games for the Pistons, averaging 8.7 points and 3.6 rebounds in 22 minutes a game over his first 12.