The Detroit Pistons still might have a ways to go to recapture the magic of the first half of their stunning season, but at least on Tuesday night, they exorcised some recent demons by throttling the Brooklyn Nets 138-100 just three days after blowing a 23-point lead and losing to the very same Nets team.
The Pistons took the game seriously; they were more talented at every position and made quick work of the Nets. Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren combined to make their first 15 shots on the night
and ended the game a combined 17-of-20 for 47 points.
Cunningham contributed 21 of those points and added 15 assists. Duren led all scorers with 26 points and added four rebounds, two blocks, two steals, and two assists.
The Pistons led by 23 by the midpoint of the second quarter and never looked back. The Nets were led by Michael Porter Jr.’s 19 points.
With the outcome decided relatively early, it was an opportunity for some lesser sung players to show some stuff. Marcus Sasser started again in the place of the injured Ausar Thompson, and the guard finally got to see his shot start falling. He scored 14 points and hit four of his five 3-pointers. Kevin Heurter played 21 minutes and had a good all-around game, scoring seven points. You can tell he knows where to be and makes the right decisions, but he’s gotta start hitting his shots.
Daniss Jenkins had a tough game as a ball handler, but a great game as a ball hawk. He had 14 points, six assists, and five steals on the night.
Finally, there is Ron Holland, who did plenty of Ron Holland things, including getting under the skin of his opponent. Nets wing Nolan Treore got whistled for a flagrant foul for a hard shove on Holland in the second quarter. That was followed quickly by a Nic Claxton shove to Ron Holland that started at his collarbone and traveled up to his neck. Holland went flying, and they reviewed the play to see if it was a flagrant. Stunningly, they then decided to keep it a common foul but whistle Holland for flopping (aka exaggerating the contact).
It felt to me like the refs knew exactly where this game was going and simply wanted to concoct a solution to get the crowd and the Nets players to simmer down before an actual fight broke out. You gotta love Ron Holland.
The Pistons will get another test of whether their mojo is back on Thursday when they host the Philadelphia 76ers. The Sixers have some talented players, but their injury report is pretty heinous. The bad news on that front got even worse with the announcment that star guard Tyrese Maxey is going to miss several weeks with a finger tendon injury.
