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Behind Marcus Morris’ 28 points and a late Ish Smith 3-pointer, the Detroit Pistons put an end to their five-game skid with a 90-88 win over the Brooklyn Nets. The win also keeps their small playoff chances alive.
To the tape!
High
Ish Smith hit the go-ahead bucket with just under 30 seconds remaining:
Smith finished with 21 points, five assists and six rebounds.
More importantly, though, he continued to be the team’s best rim protector:
But like most shot blockers, he doesn’t maintain possession after the block. Gotta work on that, Ish.
The half-court offense continued to be sluggish, but a slight push netted open looks:
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Beno Udrih with an absolutely dime out of the PNR:
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Andre Drummond sat out the crunch time minutes in the fourth quarter and only attempted one field goal - for the entire game. In his place, Aron Baynes made - arguably - the play of the night:
Baynes’ denial of an easy bucket kept the game a one-possession contest and allowed Smith to hit the go-ahead 3-pointer.
Low
Jon Leuer helps but doesn’t really help:
One more step in the right direction and Leuer could effectively negate Hollis-Jefferson as a scoring threat. Right idea, Jon.
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First, Dre attacks the PNR! But please don’t get in a habit of chasing ball handlers in a circle.
Next, because it happened multiple times, I’m assuming Dre had the green light to double team Lopez as he sees fit.
I’ve been alive for 35 years and I’ve yet to witness an Andre Drummond-inspired double team end well.
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A high into an immediate low:
Pistons get beat down the court after a made basket. Unacceptable.
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I’ll leave this for Stan Van Gundy.
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A win is a win.
Quick turnaround with a back-to-back against Milwaukee.