Pistons vs. Knicks final score: Pistons get big Stanley Johnson effort, beat Knicks 115-108

The Pistons again took care of their business, beating the New York Knicks 115-108 Tuesday evening and improve to 11-7 on the season. The Knicks were doing a little bit of streaking coming into the game, having won three straight over solid competition. Detroit wasn’t interested.

But early on the Knicks shot themselves in the foot over and over, missing a ton of good looks in the opening half and shooting just south of 30-percent. The Pistons weren’t a whole lot better save for Reggie Jackson and some timely shooting and playmaking from Stanley Johnson and Langston Galloway. It was a tough watch in the first half — lots of missed open shots and free throws from both teams.

The second half saw the Pistons more or less toy with the young Knicks, as the game was never really in doubt. Stanley Johnson off the bench finished with 21 points (7-of-9 from the floor) and three blocks. Blake Griffin wasn’t spectacular scoring 30, but attacked the Knicks at will and shot 12-of-16 from the charity stripe. Reggie Jackson put in a good night, scoring an efficient 21 points in 27 minutes.

Knicks’ undrafted rookie Allonzo Trier scored 24, grabbed 10 rebounds and dished seven assists. Trier is quite a crafty talent. He will be a big time player in the league for a long time.

Let’s get to some individual stuff:

Reggie Jackson

You could tell Reggie looked comfortable and ready to go in this one. He scored the team’s first five points and continued to be aggressive in the second quarter, too. Reggie did go assist-less in 15 first half minutes, but for the most part ball movement wasn’t an issue.

Reggie was elbowed in the face while defending an Emmanuel Mudiay drive to the basket, but Reggie did live.

Reggie Bullock

Had some good looks in the first, but didn’t convert. Overall a quiet game and some tough defensive lapses from Bullock, too. I’m confident he’ll find his game soon enough.

Glenn Robinson III

Glenn picked up two fouls pretty quickly, and that was all she wrote for the half. Glenn saw 11 minutes total.

Blake Griffin

Griffin didn’t have his long ball working (0-of-5), but he bullied the Knicks in the paint and on the break more than a few times. It wasn’t a sexy 30 points, but it was 30 points nevertheless.

Andre Drummond

Andre did not score in the first half, fumbling two dunks and overall just not looking comfortable. He did have nine rebounds and would have had more, but Enes Kanter, no doubt, is a good rebounder and a load inside as well. Andre’s hands didn’t seem to cooperate most of the night. In the fourth, Andre did a great job with a swat of Trier (if I saw it right). Andre, despite a tough offensive night, was mostly engaged, which is of course great to see.

Stanley Johnson

Stanley hit a three and went coast-to-coast for an acrobatic lay-in all within probably 30 seconds of entering the game. Got stiff-armed by Trier going to the hole in the second quarter — but that was about the only negative thing about Stanley’s night. It’s getting to the point that you want Stanley with the ball because you know good stuff is usually going to happen. Stanley wasn’t always matched up on Trier, though he did make Trier work very hard for his opportunities and roughed him up a bit when on him. Stanley, as usual, had a ton of energy tonight — check this fourth quarter chase down block:

Langston Galloway

Langston was Mr. Buckets in the first half, but couldn’t get anything to go after that.

Ish Smith

Struggled to stay in front of Trey Burke in the first half — but fortunately Burke (0-of-6 in the first half) couldn’t hit anything, although did get to the line a few times. Ish put his herky-jerky quickness to good use in the second, creating for himself and others. Ish dished out seven assists in 21 minutes.

Zaza Pachulia

Quality minutes from the backup center — plus he made rookie Mitchell Robinson look way in over his head a few times. The light Knicks frontline couldn’t keep Zaza out of the paint. Big night for Zaza with nine points and six boards and didn’t miss a single shot.

Bruce Brown

Bruce bothered Hardaway Jr. on a drive and shot in the lane in the first half. Brown made a couple confident drives to the basket in each half, only to be thwarted at the end. Mostly solid minutes from the rookie.

*****

Next up for Detroit is a home tilt with the struggling Chicago Bulls this Friday.