Pistons High / Low: Smith’s dagger lifts Pistons to win

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:

And again:

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Beno Udrih with an absolutely dime out of the PNR:

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A Darrun Hilliard sighting!

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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.

Again:

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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Really, Stanley?

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.