Not-perfect games from Drummond and Harris carry Pistons to win against Thunder

Another road game and another close road win for the good guys, as Detroit squeaked one out Friday night in Oklahoma City against the Thunder, who just two nights prior beat the Golden State Warriors quite soundly.

And, sure, the Pistons are only 5-4 on the road for the season, but with the recent three-point win at Minnesota and now the one-point win at OKC, these tight Piston affairs are something Pistons fans can really get used to, even if it makes us pace around our rooms like crazy people. Without further ado, let’s take a little closer look at each individual performance.

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Tobias Harris

Not his best game – I thought he settled for the three too much (1-for-6). But made some heady plays including grabbing a tough rebound and dishing it to the cutting Bradley for an easy lay-in late in the fourth. Those extra effort plays are often the difference in close games.

Andre Drummond

Besides a nice hook shot (for the first Pistons bucket of the night) and back-door feed to Bradley for a score, Andre was silent in the first half. He made some very careless passes and at least once he didn’t seem to care to run back on defense after his errant pass, instead deciding to jog back.

Steven Adams had a strong first half on 5-7 shooting and seven rebounds. The second half was a much different story for Andre (and for Adams). Andre grabbed a ton of difficult boards in traffic and made plays all over the offensive end. Needs to take care of the rock better though, as he had six turnovers (most were quite ugly).

Avery Bradley

In the first half shot 2-8. Didn’t get hot in the second but his confidence didn’t seem to waver as he hit a huge three-pointer late in the game (via a smart pass out of the paint from Andre). Committed five turnovers.

Stanley Johnson

2-2 shooting in the first half, and played consistent defense for the most part. Paul George was just 7-17 from the field and Melo shot even worse. From my view, Stanley could have been more selfish on offense. In the second half Stanley was a bit more sure of himself. Sometimes it’s a good thing to have your mind already made that you’re going to shoot.

Reggie Jackson

Made some winning plays, but other times was maddening with his shot selection. Finished with four assists and three turnovers and an accidental nut shot on Westbrook. Say, the nut shot worked, as Westbrook couldn’t shoot very straight from that point on.

Ish Smith

Led the team in scoring for the first half with 11 points (in 11 minutes). Jumpers, nifty change-of-pace lay-ins and beyond half-court heaves, you name it and Ish did it. He got a couple more vital scores to go and made a bunch of defensive plays in the second half as well. Here’s the strip against Carmelo in the fourth:

Anthony Tolliver

Was the first half’s second leading scorer with eight. Came out aggressive as always. I hope he plays another 10 seasons in the league.

Eric Moreland

Helped cause a Melo turnover with a near blocked shot in the first half, yet he didn’t do a whole lot else of note. Didn’t see any minutes in the second half.

Langston Galloway

What more could you ask more? Langston was 3-for-4 from distance and his lone miss was blocked. On a couple of his threes he got it out of his hands in a hurry. Helped on the boards and on defense - overall it was an efficient 16 minutes for the veteran backup.

Luke Kennard

It took until the fourth for Silky to connect on his first hoop, which was a triple. Made some good basketball plays and for those who like to key in on the plus-minus stuff, Luke led the team with a plus-7 in his 15 minutes of action.

Bonus:

Thank you, Russell Westbrook. Perfecto.