Two years ago, the Detroit Pistons were the laughing stock of the NBA and seemingly without hope. Tonight, they clinched the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference.
The Pistons used suffocating second-half defense to easily handle a tired Philadelphia 76ers team en route to an easy 116-93 win. All five Pistons starters scored in double figures, and two bench players joined in on the fun. They were led by Tobias Harris, who was booed lustily by a still-angry Sixers crowd that is apparently mad at Harris for
saying yes to a huge contract that Sixers ownership offered him. Apparently, they are still angry Harris was signed to be the third man in Philly and played like a third man in Philly. He scored 19 points and had four steals on the night. He seemed to relish every opportunity to channel those boos into a patented backdown mid-range jumper.
The best player for the Pistons was Daniss Jenkins, who has been on a tear since entering the starting lineup for an injured Cade Cunningham. Jenkins had 16 points, 14 assists, and just one turnover on the night. He hit a bit of the not-quite-rookie wall in February, but he’s clearly on the other side of that. Now, he looks like he will be more than capable of playing critical minutes for a Pistons playoff run.
The game was a bit back and forth, mainly powered by quick scoring bursts on either side. The Pistons were able to get a 10-point lead after the first quarter, but it was quickly erased, with Detroit nursing a 47-45 lead with 8:09 in the second. It was all tied up at 56 with four minutes to play in the second, thanks to a great 18-point first-half permance by Paul George, but Detroit went on yet another run, taking a 71-60 lead into halftime.
The game completely flipped in the third quarter. The Sixers went into a zone at the midway point of the third quarter, and Detroit couldn’t figure it out. Meanwhile, Philly started to show some tired legs, playing its second game in two days, and could do nothing against Detroit’s ferocious defense. Things just got worse in the fourth.
Adam Bona had a tip dunk for the first basket of the final quarter to make the game 95-83 with 11:16 to play. Philly’s next point came with 5:11 remaining in the game. Not basket. Point. Unfortunately, in that stretch, Detroit only managed to score nine points.
Like so many opponents before them, Philadelphia couldn’t handle Detroit’s pressure, couldn’t resist settling for middling shots, and couldn’t find easy paths to the rim or open windows for passes. Detroit just squeezed the life out of them until there was nothing left.
The Pistons, for the most part, had no such issues. Despite a lethargic second half, Detroit shot just under 50% from the floor and 40% from deep. They had 33 assists on 43 made baskets, outscored the Sixers in the paint, on the break, off the bench, and won the rebounding battle.
Despite not having Cade Cunningham, their creator and engine of the offense, the Pistons just don’t have many weaknesses. They are 8-2 since Cunningham went down with a collapsed lung, and their two losses were in overtime to the Oklahoma City Thunder and Atlanta Hawks.
They have 57 wins with four more to play. A team that lost 60-plus games for two consecutive seasons just recently has a chance to win 60 games this season. That would make them just the third Pistons team in franchise history to accomplish the feat. They won 64 under Flip Saunders in 2005-06 and 63 in their NBA title season of 1988-89. This team is special.
