Last night's game in Portland featured one of the strangest turns of fortune I've ever seen in an NBA game. The Trailblazers owned the Pistons for 3 quarters. Just check the scoring by quarter: 1st quarter - POR 32, DET 22; 2nd quarter - POR 25, DET 24; 3rd quarter - POR 35, DET 32. Portland really only killed them in the first quarter, but they still won every quarter going into the 4th. And for once it wasn't due to Detroit's offense. Marcus Morris and KCP weren't having their best shooting games, but the team as a whole was shooting about 44% from the field. The defense was letting them down. It wasn't the worst defense I'd ever seen, but they were definitely leaving Portland's shooters too much space and Portland wasn't missing. Then the 4th quarter rolled around and the script, as they say, flipped.
Drummond had been scooping up rebounds and hitting hook shots all day. Portland's interior defense isn't particularly strong, and Drummond had already put on a couple of moves that actually reminded me of Hakeem a little bit (settle down) - a quick spin into a hook shot, and then an up & under dunk on the very next possession. But really that's all Detroit had going. Then the defense put the clamps on defensively. Portland started turning it over, the Pistons got some stops as well, and like the Grinch's heart, the basket grew 3 sizes for Reggie Jackson. Jackson was 10-11 in the quarter (2-2 from long range), and 4-4 from the stripe. Isiah Thomas had a 25-point quarter in the '88 Finals (on a sprained ankle, no less). Wil Bynum (Wil Bynum???) exceeded that mark in 2009 with a 26-point quarter, and Reggie has now matched Bynum's team record for points in a quarter.
The numbers for this game are unbelievable. Reggie ended up with 40, 5 & 5. Drummond ended up with a Wilt Chamberlain-like 29 & 27 with 3 blocks and 2 steals. KCP & Morris didn't shoot well, but they combined for 7 steals and their defense was crucial down the stretch. Between the turnovers and the offensive rebounds, Detroit ended up with 20 extra shot attempts for the game, and they managed to outscore Portland 41-11 in the 4th quarter. Drummond should've ended up with 30 pts, but he missed 5 out of 6 FTs when the Blazers went into Hack-a-Dre with 2:30 left.
The Pistons are now 5-1 overall, looking down at most of the East. Drummond is averaging 20 & 20, and actually looks to be IMPROVING. Reggie Jackson isn't managing the offense as well as I'd like, but he's scoring it pretty well at 23 ppg and his shooting numbers are pretty good (.455/.455/.794). If they were to hold the All Star game in November, Drummond and Jackson would be starting. Keeping this all in perspective, there are 76 games left to play. On the other hand, this is Detroit's roughest stretch of road games all year and they've started it 2-0.
I didn't check the Phoenix game because I had family stuff, but it looked for everything like a boring, everyone scores type of win. Which is great, don't get me wrong, but a bit less fun to write about that Drummond & Jackson putting up video game numbers in a wacky 4th quarter blowout. Anyway, the NBA scheduled the Pistons a loss tonight, we'll see how that plays out.
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