Pistons vs Grizzlies final score: Pistons slow down in the clutch, lose 124-112

Box Score.

Derrick Rose:

Struggled a bit to get his shot to fall, scoring 22 points but needing 22 shot equivalents to get there, but also had a very nice eight assists against three turnovers, including a couple of absolutely killer passes. One of those nights where it would’ve made a big difference if he could’ve gotten a couple more shots to fall, but he stayed aggressive all night so he did what you want, just needed a few more to fall. The Grizzlies regularly had no answer for him as he blew by various Grizzlies defenders on the perimeter. Decent game, just needed a couple more shots to fall.

The overall defensive effort tonight was poor, and Rose definitely didn’t help there, but the poor defense was really a team effort, or lack thereof. So unless stated otherwise, just assume that each player gets a knock for playing poor defense.

Reggie Jackson:

Started due to the plethora of injuries, even if the plan is to have him start in the future and move Rose back into his sixth-man role at some point, I doubt they wanted to do it this soon given that Reggie is still on a minutes restriction. I’m not sure why they didn’t just start Galloway, like they did to open the second half, but when there are so many guys missing there probably isn’t a great answer.

Like Rose, had a tough time getting shots to fall as he required 16 shot equivalents to get his 14 points. Like Rose he also had a tidy six assists with just one turnover in only 23 minutes of play. Overall, Jackson played the way you want him too, his prowess in the pick and roll is evident, and he does not look at all like someone who hasn’t played in months. There were reports earlier that Jackson was not going to come back until he was all the way ready and it looks like he wasn’t kidding.

Once again, like Rose, Jackson played the sort of game you want him to play. He got to his spots, made some really nice passes, had by far the best +/- of any of the starters at -3 (next closest was Sekou at -12) so it was a tough night shooting but he played ok, just got to get more shots to fall. The main thing right now is that he looks great physically, given the way he has looked when returning from injury in the past this is great, even if its dampened a bit by the fact that it just means he will be useful for some other team next season.

Svi Mykhailiuk:

Bit of a “meh” outing for Svi. 14 points on 13 shot equivalents is decent considering that he actually got some points in the paint, but he didn’t impact the game much anywhere else and gets a extra knock for poor defense. He had just one rebound to his name for other stats, and generally struggled to impact the game. He does continue to try and make stuff happen as a driver, which is nice. The problem is that I’m just not sure that is ever going to happen for him. He gets blocked/loses the ball constantly when he tries to go to the hoop in any sort of traffic; one of the times he drove and score it literally got blocked but still went in. Admittedly, some of those drives were when Tim Frazier was on the floor in the first half, at which point I guess someone has to try and do something, but especially when he’s on the floor with Rose or Jackson, probably best to leave the dribble-penetration to those guys and just bomb threes.

Sekou Doumbouya:

Back in the starting lineup but only played 23 minutes for reasons that are not abundantly clear to me. Five points on four shots with three rebounds, an assist, and a steal is a fine stat-line for him, especially now that Jackson is back so all his minutes where with one of the Pistons actual point guards. Maybe when I go back and check, his defense was an extra level of atrocious, but I’m just not sure why he didn’t play more. I guess a decent amount of Jaren Jackson’s success was on him.

Thon Maker:

I actually thought Thon did pretty well against a tough front-line. 11 points on eight shot equivalents with eight rebounds, a pair of assists and a steal is not a bad night for just 20 minutes. I’m not going to complain about his low minute total, because I remain in the camp that Christian Wood is just better by a significant margin. Even if you think “We could use Thon’s defensive effort here,” it still isn’t worth it, but I think that his awful -15 in just 20 minutes doesn’t really do him justice. He actually did alright.

Langston Galloway:

Keep bumping up that trade stock my dude. Played 35 minutes, scored 14 points with four rebounds. Not a monster night, but he appears to have solidly bounced back from a slump that he was in for a bit.

Keef Morris:

Oof. After a red-hot return from injury he fell flat tonight. Nine points on 14 shots and 0-5 from deep with five rebounds in 28 minutes. Just not the night the Pistons needed from him.

Christian Wood:

Him playing 28 minutes gets an extra bump for the defensive performance tonight, but the dude can score. 20 points on 12 shot equivalents on the night for Wood and even missed a couple of shots he normally hits. Also had six rebounds on the night. I still don’t know that I’m going to be able to be convinced he’s a significant piece going forward, but at least he’s fun.

Louis King:

Didn’t have a lot of impact in his 14 minutes of play with three points on as many shots along with four rebounds and three assists, but when you are a two-way guy playing his first real NBA minutes (I think? He may have gotten in for like a minute earlier. This is certainly his longest stretch of play I think) then not having a huge impact is actually a good thing! He didn’t look out of place on the floor, there were no moments of obvious “oof” from him other than missing both free-throws at the end of the first half. So while the 20-year-old didn’t wow anyone, he did just fine.

Tim Frazier:

Not good.

General:

The Pistons missed Andre badly. The Grizzlies just had far too easy a time getting where they wanted to get on offense. A few guys shooting better for the Pistons could’ve helped them still pull this one out, but down the stretch, their defense was a much bigger issue than the offense. I’m still kind of pulling for them to stay on the heels of Brooklyn because it’d be funny but each loss, even a tough one like this, does push them closer to just going all-in on the tank, which is probably for the best.