The Detroit Pistons had a mini-All Star Break in their schedule as tonight was their first game in five days and only their second in the past eight days. It was enough time to get rest for their injured
starting five as Tobias Harris and Jalen Duren would return to join Cade Cunningham, Duncan Robinson, and Ausar Thompson in the starting lineup.
It wasn’t pretty at times on the offensive end, but as they’ve done all season, the Detroit Pistons battled for all 48 minutes. In the end, they were rewarded with their 29th victory this season in a 108-105 win over Phoenix.
Detroit came out looking like that five-day rest served them well as they got off to an 11-3 start. Ivey added a quick eight points off the bench, but a 13-3 Phoenix run to end the first quarter had Detroit down 32-23.
The Suns were able to extend the lead to 15 early in the second quarter, and JB Bickerstaff had to call two timeouts to fire up the team as you could hear his anger through the broadcast’s microphone. It took about an hour and a half to get through the first half as their were plenty of reviews for flagrant or technical fouls.
Cade was playing sloppy and seemed like he had some rust to shake off, so JBB was able to find his second quarter spark off the bench from Daniss Jenkins and Ron Holland as they helped lead Detroit to a 17-5 run. They at least had built a little momentum going into the half despite the Suns leading 63-56.
Although he only saw five minutes in the first half with all of them coming in the first quarter, Jaden Ivey continued his impressive shot-making in the third quarter. He was creating open looks in the midrange and managed to knock down three of his five attempted long balls. Duncan Robinson and Tobias Harris both steadied the offense and Detroit was able to bring it to a one-point game by the end of the third quarter.
A Jaden Ivey three-pointer tied the game at 94 early in the fourth and a few possessions later a Tobias Harris midrange fadeaway gave the Pistons the lead. Detroit showed why their defense is their biggest strength as they would go on to hold Phoenix to 15 points in the final frame.
A Cade Cunningham hook in the lane pushed the Detroit lead to four with two minutes left, and Cade would pump fake Dillon Brooks into his sixth personal foul. JB Bickerstaff closed the game with Ron Holland and Ausar Thompson on the court with Cade, Tobias, and Duren and it proved to be the right idea – from 3:09 left in the game, they only let up two Phoenix points before Grayson Allen hit a desperate three-pointer with three seconds left.
It was a team effort on both ends tonight and six players contributed with double-digit points. There were too many missed threes, missed free throws, and turnovers for a team coming off that much rest. Cade struggled shooting 3-for-16 with five turnovers, but he was still able to create for his teammates with 11 assists. He had a lot of good looks, but they just didn’t fall tonight.
Duncan Robinson led the way with 19 points and four threes while Tobias Harris and Jalen Duren each added 16 points. Duren had even more rebounds with 18 and Harris added some quality buckets when the team needed them. Ron Holland was his scrappy self with 11 points and nine rebounds. He needs to hit those free throws, but he held his own out there as he had no problem getting physical with NBA-villain Dillon Brooks.
The Detroit Pistons are now 29-10 and they will take on the 9-32 Indiana Pacers on Saturday night at Little Caesars Arena. It’ll be the battle between the top and the bottom of the Eastern Conference.
Go Stones.
