Pistons vs. Suns final score: Vintage Drummond-Jackson connection powers win

It was a blast to 2015 for the Pistons on the eve of the NBA Trade Deadline, as Reggie Jackson and Andre Drummond channelled the connection that once made the pairing look so promising. It might be their last game in a Pistons uniform.

Since his return from a back injury that kept him out for three months, Jackson has mostly looked healthy and like a real life starting point guard. He went for 25 points and 9 assists, with his passing game more efficient than his scoring. But it’s been a while since we’ve seen plays like this out of Jackson:

Andre Drummond was dominant in the box scores, posting 31 points, 19 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals. His 7 offensive rebounds were huge for the Pistons, contributing to 17 second chance points for the team. So that’s good.

He also allowed DeAndre Ayton to drop 26 points on 12-18 shooting, almost all of which were on Drummond. So going back over his past 4 matchups, it’s been 26 points for Ayton, 26 points for Jonas Valanciunas, 39 for Nikola Jokic, and 21 for Serge Ibaka. He is pretty much checked out defensively. So that’s not good.

The bench was the other key to the win, led by Langston Galloway and Christian Wood. Galloway was a pest defensively and dropped 15 points to boost his trade value help his team. Wood had 21 points, 8 rebounds, and was a team high +17.

The team’s other major trade chips, Markieff Morris, Derrick Rose, and Luke Kennard, all sat out the game with injuries.

There haven’t been a whole lot of 31 point, 19 rebound, 4 assist, and 3 steal games in league history. Drummond’s was just the 34th, to be exact. It wouldn’t be a bad way for him to end his Pistons career.

ROLL CALL: