Pistons vs. Hawks final score: Thon Maker hits game winner in wild game

The Detroit Pistons secured a wild 125-122 win against a feisty Hawks team in Atlanta on a game-winning Thon Maker 3-pointer. And that shot in the final seconds was like the sixth craziest thing about the game.

This one had just about everything. Reggie Jackson played his best game of the season. Andre Drummond was a beast at both end of the floor. Blake Griffin was ejected because of two absolutely horrific technicals. Hell, Jon Leuer hit his first 3 in 684 days.

Wow.

Reggie Jackson had 32 points, eight assists, zero turnovers and had a spring in his step Pistons fans haven’t seen in over two years.

Then there was Andre Drummond who was a beast down low. He was aggressive to the hoop getting easy dunks, getting himself to the free-throw line — including two clutch free throws to tie the score late in the fourth quarter and grabbing huge rebounds.

Drummond finished the night with 26 points, 21 rebounds and five steals. It was his 30th 20-20 game.

But let’s talk about Blake.

Griffin struggled in his first game out of the All-Star break but he finally looked like he was getting comfortable midway through the third quarter. Then Griffin was called for a technical because he tried to grab the ball from Dewayne Dedmon after Dedmon turned it over. Seriously. That was the reason.

Then, in a game that featured epic and endless trash talk, Griffin hit a huge 3-pointer and barked at a Hawks player. I don’t know what he said — maybe he used a four-letter word. But it’s also, you know, basketball. Whatever he said he got T-d up again. Suddenly, the best player on either team was ejected.

Dwane Casey called both of Griffin’s technicals “questionable” in the understatement of the year.

That meant the Pistons needed to rely on Maker and Leuer to hold down the power forward position. The results were decidedly mixed. Atlanta went on a huge tear swinging the game 12 points in just a few minutes to take a one-point lead.

But Leuer, for the first time in 684 days, Leuer hit a 3. But Maker hit three of them including the game-winner.

Now let’s talk about Jackson. He struggled mightily in the first half against a crafty Trae Young who was bombing deep 3s and getting around the corner and into the lane for either a score or a nice pass. But Jackson was his equal on the offensive end.

Young finished with 30 points, 10 assists and four turnovers.