Pistons High / Low: KCP’s late game heroics spark Pistons’ win

We’re back! I missed you guys - well, most of you.

The Pistons staged another fourth quarter comeback to top the Charlotte Hornets 114-108. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope’s scored 11 straight Pistons’ points late in the fourth to force overtime.

To the tape!

High

The Pistons’ comeback was topped off by KCP, but without the services of bench-mates Ish Smith and Tobias Harris, there is no comeback and there is certainly no Pistons win.

Ish Smith

Going 2-12 from the field would suggest a rough night for Smith, but that doesn’t take into account how the rest of the offense flowed when he was on the court. Ish handed out 16 assists, committed only one turnover and finished the fourth quarter and overtime in place of Reggie Jackson.

Smith and Harris continue to be on the same page:

If you know that your point guard is going to find you, it makes it that much easier to run/cut aggressively:

Ish creating space to hit a big fourth-quarter shot:

What’s a High/Low without an Ish block?

Like all good shot blockers, he keeps the ball in play.

Smith finished the night with a plus/minus of +20. Jackson logged a -14.

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Tobias Harris

Harris did most of his damage keeping the Pistons close in the 2nd quarter:

And in the 4th:

Harris continues to be the model of consistency, finishing with 25 points, seven rebounds and three assists.

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Kentavious Caldwell-Pope

KCP finished with a Pistons’ high 33 points, including seven of 15 beyond the long line. In a back-and-forth duel with Kemba Walker late in the fourth, Caldwell-Pope wouldn’t let the Pistons go down quietly:

The overtime period saw more of the same:

I - being of sound basketball mind and body - do not condone this shot:

But I love the result.

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Any time a defense overloads the strong side, a skip pass is always in play:

Leuer makes Batum pay for the post help on Andre Drummond.

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Below, Stanley Johnson takes away the roll and finishes on the other end:

Low

Kemba Walker is good enough, he doesn’t need a Detroit on Detroit crime:

(Editor’s Note: As soon as I saw this play, I knew it was going in the High/Low. The Charlotte brodcast was SCREAMING over it.)

All in all, it’s a pretty good Drummond screen. He wipes out the defending Ish Smith and clears the path for Walker’s easy two.

It’s only funny because we won.

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Reggie Jackson didn’t stand a chance:

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Walker is handful in the pick and roll. Jeremy Lamb shouldn’t be:

A nice little Thursday stroll into the lane saw Lamb find Walker for the open three.

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Leuer, Jackson and Drummond all need to communicate a tad better:

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Morris and/or Jackson has got to take the roll away:

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One down, 24 to go in the playoff push.