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Reggie Jackson confounds the Cavs in the pick-and-roll

Reggie Jackson got whatever he needed against the Cavaliers. He was able to attack the paint, find open shooters and, finally, he allowed Andre Drummond to be Andre Drummond. #LetDreDunk

Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports

Reggie Jackson the facilitator came back with a vengance Tuesday night, and was a key reason the Pistons were able to propel themselves past the Cleveland Cavaliers 104-99.

Jackson, coming off of his worst game of the season and a game where his head coach said his decision making was terrible, took things to heart, had 23 points, 12 assists and six rebounds.

After his horrific performance against the Lakers, Jackson met with Van Gundy and focused on two things -- aggressiveness and decisiveness.

Indeed, the probing, over-dribbling, questionable decision-making guard who played the Kings, Clippers and Lakers was gone. In his place was the force of nature Pistons fans saw most of last season after he was traded to Detroit.

Even better, Jackson was able to effectively exploit opportunities in the pick-and-roll with Andre Drummond, which allowed Dre to focus less on his under-construction post game and more on alley-oop slams. Jackson was able to use his decisive moves to blow by Cleveland's guards and suck in the big man defender. This left an open lane for Drummond to throw it down.

But it wasn't just Drummond that Jackson was able to find. Here, the threat of the Drummond pick-and-roll sucks in both Timofey Mozgof and Kevin Love, who leaves Ersan Ilyasova wide open so he can take away a path to the basket that Jackson was looking to penetrate.

Here, Jackson and Drummond both recognize Matthew Dellavadova's fateful decision to go over the screen and trails behind Jackson. This forces Drummond's man to leak out and try and slow down Jackson's path to the basket. Jackson and Drummond then both use their elite speed to get past the defense barely pass the foul line. By then the pass is in the air and Drummond is ready to slam it home.

This is when you can tell that Jackson was really getting to the Cavaliers and they had no answers for him on defense. Jackson explodes toward the basket and occupies the attention of four Cavs defenders. This leaves Drummond unimpeded toward the basket with a meek LeBron James shove giving Dre the and-one opportunity for good measure.

Whatever Stan Van Gundy told Jackson after that embarrassing Lakers performance seemed to get through to Jackson. If the Pistons can get more of this version of Jackson, along with a more assertive, ready-to-shoot Ersan Ilyasova, it will go a long way to fixing Detroit's so-far pitiful offense.