With the Pistons upcoming schedule, Charlotte twice this week, they have a chance to really take back hold of their season, and they played like that’s exactly what they want tonight.
Their offense started off hot, especially from three, and that should have been an indicator of how the rest of the game would go. Luke began with a quick five points and following two triples from Langston and Bruce, the Pistons found themselves in an early lead, 13-9, with seven minutes to go in the first. The bench unit came in and the offense went ice cold; shots weren’t dropping and it looked like, just for a couple minutes, that we were going to get the same Pistons from the last several games. The Magic were clicking on offense and defense which earned themselves an eight point lead, 31-23, by the end of the first.
This was the only sign of worry practically the rest of the game for Detroit. To start the second, Langston drove baseline and nutmegged a pass through an Orlando defender to Markieff Morris in the corner for a three, which really seemed to get the bench going. A Langston lob to Christian Wood cut the deficit to just four, 32-36, with 8:37 left in the half. However, Orlando’s Terrence Ross simply refused to be stopped on the offensive end closing out the half, so despite the Piston’s efforts, they still trailed at halftime 53-55.
Coming out of the half though, Detroit really upped their pace in the third quarter. They were taking smart shots, and reluctantly the shots were dropping. Bruce was getting into the paint and finishing, Blake was executing his moves and Langston and Luke were doing their thing from beyond the three-point line. Strangely enough, the Pistons were also playing tremendous defense and gang-rebounding the ball every time it came off the rim. They were getting it done on both ends of the floor, holding the Magic to only 15 points in the period and that earned them a 78-70 lead heading into the last twelve minutes of regulation.
Most everything from the third repeated itself in the fourth. More shots dropping, more good defense, and more high IQ basketball is what allowed the Pistons to find themselves a 15 point win tonight,
103-88. They allowed the fewest points scored against them so far this season; with only 33 Magic points generated in the second half the Pistons were able to pick up a much needed win.
Luke Kennard recorded a team high 20 points, along with 7 assists and 4 rebounds, to help the Pistons come out on top over the Magic tonight. The Piston’s next game comes on Wednesday, 11-27, in Charlotte against the Hornets, which for the Pistons will be another must win matchup.
Piston Territory 