For those of you DBB sickos who care, I’m officially a married man! We had a spooky wedding on Halloween night and spent the past week in Cabo San Lucas for our honeymoon. We had a great time celebrating over the past week and a half!
Now we’re back to Pistons hoops.
JB Bickerstaff decided to mix up the starting lineup by starting John Collins at center. Paul Reed moved to the bench, and Daniss Jenkins was inserted into the starting lineup. Detroit started small with Duncan Robinson at the 3 and Ausar
Thompson at the 4.
It proved to be the right idea early, as Collins was the leading scorer for Detroit after the first quarter with nine points. The Wizards took a 32-31 lead heading into the second, behind 12 points from Trae Young and 11 from Anthony Davis.
Detroit struggled to have an answer defensively for AD, and this was another game where Detroit missed Jalen Duren’s physicality and inside presence. Davis had 30 points and eight rebounds at the halfway point while only missing one of his 11 attempts. The Pistons put up 37 points in the quarter with five different players scoring more than seven points. Collins led the way with 15, Duncan had 14, and Cade had 11 as Detroit held a 68-58 lead.
The third quarter was all about Daniss Jenkins. Cade picked up his fifth foul halfway through the third, and DJ took the reins. He made Trae Young look like a traffic cone on defense as Jenkins went on to score 13 in the quarter. He consistently attacked Young, and Young never stood a chance. Detroit continued to extend their lead as they were up 103-87 heading into the fourth.
The fourth quarter was highlighted by two beautiful plays by Ebuka Okorie and Ausar Thompson.
First, watch Ausar find Okorie in transition as Okorie does his best Kyrie Irving impression:
Second, the Human Swiss Army knife blocks the 7-footer Alex Sarr on one end, then follows that up by directing traffic and finding an open DJ with a great bounce pass for a wide-open dunk:
The Pistons will continue to hope for a speedy recovery for Jalen Duren as they needed his inside physicality against Anthony Davis, who finished with 44 points and 13 rebounds while shooting 16-for-21 from the field. Detroit still managed to pull away with a 122-111 win behind three different players who scored 20+ points, despite none of them being Cade Cunningham.
John Collins, in his starting small-ball five role, led the way with 24 points and 10 rebounds, shooting 9-for-13 from the field. Both Daniss Jenkins and Duncan Robinson added 22 points each, and Jenkins led Detroit with eight assists. Your fun fact of the night: Robinson led the Pistons with seven free throw attempts. There has been a clear difference in his game this year as he looks to get to the line more often. Cunningham added 17 points and seven assists.
The Pistons improve to 7-3 on the season. Detroit’s home-and-home matchup with the Wizards continues as the Pistons will travel to Washington for Round 2 on Thursday night.
Go Stones.
