Pistons vs. Bulls final score: Reggie Jackson’s sharp shooting in first quarter carries Pistons past Bulls, 107-88

The Detroit Pistons quite methodically took care of the (5-18) Chicago Bulls Friday night at Little Caesars Arena, improving to 12-7 on the season. Detroit won the first quarter by 13 points and didn’t look back from there.

Detroit dominated the Bulls from deep, draining 13 triples to the Bulls’ three. 19-year-old rookie forward Wendell Carter Jr. gave the Pistons his best effort, scoring 28 points in 29 minutes and potentially losing a tooth (or getting it rearranged) as well. Jabari Parker had a few moments of general competence, but shot just 6-of-16 from the floor. There was really not much else the Bulls had in their bag of tricks. They’ll be significantly better when Lauri Markkanen, Bobby Portis and Kris Dunn are healthy again.

Let’s get to the individual stuff:

Reggie Jackson

Another assist-less first half for Reggie, yet you can easily look past it as he paced the team with 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting, making everything from VERY wide-open threes to a tough step back corner three. Reggie finished with 20 points, two assists and no rebounds in 27 minutes.

Reggie Bullock

I almost couldn’t believe my eyes as Bullock took ONE ill-advised shot in his 14 first half minutes. Reggie had the ball in his hands more than usual and definitely took advantage of it, attempting 11 shots — and also chipped in with the smart extra pass most times (5 assists).

Glenn Robinson III

Glenn was more aggressive in looking for his own shot to begin the game, but at least one of the shots was a clear force. Glenn was scoreless in 13 minutes.

Blake Griffin

20 points, 10 boards and five assists for Blake in 31 minutes. Blake had several strong, tough makes inside, although at times he did take a beating on the defensive end from Carter Jr. and Parker.

Andre Drummond

Two somewhat early fouls limited Andre to 13 minutes in the first — otherwise was active while banging mostly with Wendell Carter Jr. Wendell had Andre’s number a couple of times on offense. Carter’s ability to make quick moves and get the ball over Andre was impressive.

In half number two — especially the third quarter — Andre, nor anyone else, could stop Wendell.

Overall, it was a mixed night for Andre (funny to type that as he had 19 and 19). Looking deeper, he did disrupt a ton of shots in the paint. I’d have to guess, if you put aside his four recorded blocks, Andre disrupted at least another six or seven Bull shots, and that might be a conservative estimate.

Stanley Johnson

A couple of wild shots and drives in the first half, but not a bad 10 first half minutes with a couple of buckets in five tries. Stanley didn’t get much arc on his lone three point attempt. Stanley struggled a bit more in half two and also shot another flat three pointer. Finished 2-of-9 from the field in 19 minutes.

Langston Galloway

1-of-6 in the first half, including at least few shots that weren’t close. Langston shot 1-of-4 in the second half. He’ll need to be much better tomorrow against the Warriors.

Ish Smith

Ish was quietly very effective and ran roughshod over any Bull defender, especially Ryan Arcidiacono. Ish left Cam Payne behind in this clip:

Bruce Brown Jr.

14 first half minutes for the rookie. While he didn’t shoot, he kept the rock moving and didn’t try to do too much. Bruce asserted himself fairly nicely against Zach LaVine on several possessions, including a nice recovery block along the baseline. LaVine shot just 3-of-12 for the game, and some of that was due to Brown’s quick feet and solid contesting ability.

Bruce was more assertive (but controlled) in the second half, even letting an in-rhythm long ball fly.

Zaza Pachulia

Quality minutes with six first half rebounds and countless solid screens set. He did clank a wide open jump shot off the left iron — but he’s shooting free throws like it’s nothing (22-of-24 this month). Also, I might add, I enjoyed the mini-box out wars between Zaza and Robin Lopez, where they would neutralize one another and on a few occasions the ball would hit the ground in their vicinity since they were locked up with each other. It was fundamental basketball at its finest.

*****

The Pistons welcome in the Golden State Warriors tomorrow and apparently a healthy enough Steph Curry. Heard of this guy before?