The Pistons continued their road trip tonight against the Orlando Magic, who are currently the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference. The starting lineup tonight consisted of Reggie Jackson, Bruce Brown, Tony Snell, Christian Wood, and Thon Maker, with Langston Galloway contributing big minutes off the bench. With both Derrick Rose and Svi Mykhailiuk on minutes restrictions, the Pistons went 10 deep, although a few players played significant minutes. Wood played a total of 38 minutes, Jackson played 36 minutes, and Snell played 33 minutes.
Pistons were down big throughout much of the 2nd quarter, but went into halftime down 59-55. They managed to keep it close throughout the third, and were actually winning by seven with six minutes left in the game. The game came down to the wire, as Aaron Gordon hit two clutch threes to keep the game tight. An energetic putback dunk from Christian Wood tied the game 105-105 with 27 seconds remaining. With less than five seconds left, Vucevic was left open near the top of the key, and drilled the shot, leaving 3 seconds for the Pistons to tie the game. Coming off an off-ball screen, Galloway launched a contested three as he fell to the floor, and made it. Overtime was close until the last minute as the Magic scored and the Pistons turned it over on the next possession, which lead to a series of messy plays ending in a loss, with the final score being 116-112.
Following the Andre Drummond trade to Cleveland and Blake Griffin being out for the season, both Maker and Wood can expect a thorough allotment of minutes for the rest of the season, assuming they both maintain good health. We continued to see positives from Wood, as he scored 26 points on 14 shots, and contributed 12 rebounds. On a less positive note, he shot poorly from three, as he only made one of four. We should continue to see strides in his game as he gets more experience starting and playing more minutes. It is promising to see Maker scoring at a higher level, and he continued to show that he is a deep threat, as he scored 18 while shooting 2/3 from three. A chronic issue Maker has had throughout the season (and frankly, throughout his career) is his rebounding ability, which is troubling because his primary position is Center. Tonight, while starting at Center, he only marked two rebounds. Hopefully the additional minutes he will be receiving can help him improve this. All of this being said, these two were the leading contributors for the Pistons as they combined for 44 total points.
The Pistons guards did not perform well tonight, which is a large reason why they couldn’t pull out the victory. In 36 minutes, Reggie Jackson netted 12 points in 16 shots. Derrick Rose has normally been the Pistons go-to scorer off the bench alongside Langston Galloway, but he struggled tonight as he scored two points, on 1/13 shooting. Although he has been playing fairly well recently, Rose does tend to have off-games every once in a while, similar to the one he had tonight. Bruce Brown wasn’t much help either as he also only scored two points, but managed to grab 10 rebounds.
Tony Snell played better than usual, scoring 16 points, and Markieff Morris added 14 points and 8 rebounds off the bench. The other four Pistons who played (Galloway, Henson, Doumbouya, and Mykailiuk) only combined for 22 points.
The Pistons defense struggled to contain the Magic’s starters, as they combined for 96 of their 116 points. Former All-Star Nikola Vucevic had a decent game, scoring 19 points, along with 11 rebounds and 7 assists. Aaron Gordon, who will be competing in the Slam Dunk Contest later this week, nearly marked a triple double, with 25 points, 9 rebounds, and 9 assists. Contributing along the way was up and coming Point Guard Markelle Fultz, who scored 22 points and added 10 assists. Evan Fournier also added 19.
Piston Territory 