Pistons vs. Spurs final score: Pistons in control the whole night, win 93-79

Sometimes shots fall and sometimes they don’t – however, a few things a basketball team can always control is the effort and passion they play with.

The Pistons, home against the now 25-12 San Antonio Spurs, came out flying around on both ends of the court, making a decent amount of shots and combining that with active and smart defense to hold the Spurs to just 13 first quarter points. However, the second quarter saw the Pistons only manage 15 themselves. But the Pistons defensive effort and passion was pretty much always there the entire game.

The Spurs played all 13 of their active players in the first half but only trailed by three at halftime. Gregg Popovich was not a happy camper the whole evening, as his mood quickly soured with Reggie Bullock channeling his inner-Reggie Miller in the first several minutes of the contest. Bullock scored 10 in the first five and a half minutes on some very open looks. He kept it up and finished with a career-high 22 points (14 shots).

Luke Kennard scored a career-high 20 (4-for-5 from downtown) to go along with three steals. Excellent floor game from the rookie - as it was really just night and day from his previous game in Orlando. Also, Dwight Buycks scored his first points as a Piston, notching four.

Andre Drummond was Andre Drummond: damn good, but always leaving you wanting a bit more. Dre scored 14, grabbed 21 rebounds, assisted on six hoops and swiped the Spurs three times. Yeah, damn good.

The Pistons had to dig down on the depth chart thanks to yet another player out. Stanley Johnson missed the game with a sore hip, which was what had him miss time in November as well.

The Spurs were paced by Kawhi Leonard’s 18. Kawhi was a quiet 4-for-11 in 28 minutes. Reggie Bullock harassed him most of the night and generally made work tough for one of the best players in the Association.

The Pistons (20-15) are off until the 3rd of next year, when they travel to Miami to take on the Heat.

Enjoy a couple top plays from the victory tonight.

First, Andre with the sweet pass to Tobias.

Second, Andre on the receiving end of some wizardry from Ish!

Happy New Year, everyone!!