NBA Links: Reggie Jackson rises to occasion on both ends and Andre Drummond's free throw shooting, plus more

SVG: Jackson had best defensive effort as Piston Monday -- Detroit Free Press

After the Detroit Pistons' 95-92 victory over the Utah Jazz on Monday night, the point guard (Jackson) was informed that coach Stan Van Gundy called it his best defensive performance as a Piston.

Jackson's 29 points will make the highlight reels.

But after a string of bad defensive performances, Jackson was the main defender against Jazz point guard Trey Burke, the former U-M star.

Burke finished 0-for-8 from the field in 22 minutes and was held scoreless by Jackson and Brandon Jennings.

Jackson has stuck to screens lately, but gave a clinic on fighting through screens Monday night.

"Forget the offense," Van Gundy said. "That is the most consistent effort from start to finish defensively that I have seen Reggie make since we had him in 70-plus games.

Now it's Andre's turn to step it up.

Rodney Hood, Gordon Hayward spark comeback, but fall short -- SLC Dunk

Comment sections are where it's at and at SLC Dunk it's certainly no different.

Basketball's analytics era shines harsh light on poor free-throw shooters -- National Post

Drummond actually has some distance to decline before he secures the record for a season-long free-throw performance. Ben Wallace, the 17-year veteran centre best known for his years in Detroit, was a 41 per cent career free-throw shooter. In 2000-01, he clocked in a full season at 33.6 per cent. But Wallace was not a key part of the offence on those Pistons teams of 15 years ago. In that 2000-01 season, he attempted only three free-throws per game.

A Look Around the NBA (mostly just the East though)

On Monday night the Charlotte Hornets held off DeMarcus Cousins (56 points) and the Sacramento Kings in two overtimes to pull within a game of .500 -- it's Charlotte's third straight win.

If you play fantasy basketball (and are in an exceptionally deep league) and have Troy Daniels on your squad, then thumbs up to you -- Troy nailed eight triples in 11 tries (a deep one for the win in the second OT). He was zero for two from the foul line though.

Honest question, as I'm really out of the loop -- do people still play fantasy basketball?

The Magic are on a six game slide (and losers of nine of their last 10) after losing to the Grizzlies in overtime. Will the Magic be able to launch themselves back into the playoff picture? An enlightening read here.

The Heat aren't looking too spry these days, but did get a much needed win with a good effort over the Bulls Monday night. The Heat still need help in a lot of areas, especially long range shooting. It's been reported several times that they are trying to talk 40-year-old Ray Allen out of retirement. Mind you, Ray hasn't hit the floor of an NBA arena since 2013-14.

The Raptors very well could have a 10 game win streak on their hands when Detroit squares off with them in Toronto this Saturday (30th) -- by beating the Wizards and the Knicks at home this week, it'll be all set.

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Stay warm, stay comfortable, stay safe, wherever you are!