Drop, Flop, & GYATT! DET@ATL 1/22/25
The Pistons soar past the Hawks, undefeated on their road trip
I don’t know if it was the snacks and supplies from Bucc-ees, or snapping the six-game losing streak to the Rockets, but vibes on the Pistons’ road trip are through the roof. Cade and the boys kept the momentum going as they swooped into Atlanta to make rotisserie chicken out of the bricklaying Hawks.
Deuce led the way with 29 points 11 assists, 6 boards, and 3 stocks, despite having another 10-turnover night. It was a team effort as Big D energy from Ausar (16 points, 4 stocks) and Stew (12 rebounds, 3 blocks) and longunning from Threesly and Tek (combined 8/14 from deep) sealed the deal. Hotlanta? More like NOTlanta, am I right?
DROP
The Pistons must have filed a permit with the city, because they put on a good old-fashioned block party at State Farm Arena, dropping TEN rejections. More stuffing than Thanksgiving dinner.
In the 2nd quarter, Detroit started pulling away with a 10-point lead, so Jalen Johnson drove to the rim with both hands for a slam, but Stew proved that two aren’t always better than one, denying the Hawks’ Power Forward with a huge, one-handed swat. JJ learned the hard way, that if you come for the Beef, you better not miss.
FLOP
Ice Trae and his squad were ice-cold, shooting 35% from the field and 15% from distance while MotorCade kept the Pistons in cruise control for most of the game. Still, even with his usage, there was no reason Deuce had to match his season-high of 10 turnovers (which he just notched against the Rockets), earning the wrong kind of triple-double (29, points, 11 assists, 10 turnovers).
A dub is a dub, but to beat teams like the Celtics and Thunder, the Pistons’ young star needs to cut down on careless passes like this one in the 4th quarter.
GYATT!
If we’re gonna show the turnovers, we gotta show the dimes, which for Cade, are dime a dozen at this point. We’ve seen a million lobs to Duren, but this one might take the cake. JD looked like he had flubber on his shoes the way he got up to oop that alley!
This game also featured another play that perfectly encapsulates what the Pistons are all about. Ausar picks Trae up half court, swarming him, eventually making the swipe and the heads-up bomb to Cade, who feeds Duren a plate of candied YAM off the glass. Defense to offense to showtime. You know if this happened at LCA, Mason would be shouting “DEEEEEETROOOOOIIT BASKETBAAAALLLLL.”
The Pistons aren’t a finished product. They’re winning games in spite of 20+ turnovers and a knack for leaving sharpshooters wide open. But they are winning. After their convincing road victories over Houston and Atlanta, Detroit now holds the 6th seed. There’s plenty of season left, and while the idea of jumping the play-in altogether may be ambitious, it isn’t totally ridiculous. To do so, they’ll need to keep things rolling in Orlando on Saturday against Paolo Banchero and the Magic.