Deadline Buying, Finding Faith, and Blake Griffin | The Weekly Drive
The Pistons could be buyers at the trade deadline, Jaden Ivey opens up about overcoming personal struggle, and Blake Griffin talks about the Clippers trading him.
Hey there Pistons fans, and welcome back to the Weekly Drive. Don’t look now, but Detroit has a 20-19 record and is firmly in the Eastern Conference playoff picture. How cool is that? Here are this past week’s games, with a quick note attached.
Weekly Game Recaps
Game 37: Portland 115, Detroit 118
Rapid Detail: Are the Pistons good enough to be playing with their food? For the second time in two weeks, they trailed by double digits against a team they were favored (!) against. But, as they did with Charlotte last week, Detroit finally pulled through. But it looked pretty rough to open the second quarter, where the Blazers went on a 17-0 run.
Game 38: Detroit 113, Brooklyn 98
Rapid Detail: Hello there, over .500 record. The Pistons took care of business against an undermanned Nets team to win their fifth straight game. Perhaps the biggest reasons? Detroit outscored the Brooklyn bench 50-20 and gashed them on the fast break 36-15.
Game 39: Golden State 107, Detroit 104
Rapid Detail: To me, this game said much more about the Warriors than it did the Pistons. Detroit trailed by as many as 18 and was within a Malik Beasley three at the buzzer from sending this game to overtime. Dare I say this is a game the Pistons should have won?
Game 40: Toronto 114, Detroit 123
Rapid Detail: Cade Cunningham continues to show why he is an All-Star with another triple-double, now the second-most in franchise history. His 17 assists were also one off his career-high (which he set on December 16th). Despite 17 turnovers, the Pistons found a way to win.
Jaden Ivey on Overcoming Personal Struggle
I was going to write this up under the “News and Notes” section, but after listening to the podcast and hearing what Jaden Ivey said, it deserves its section.
Ivey suffered a broken fibula and will be out for potentially the rest of the season, but the trials and tribulations he described in the Sports Spectrum Podcast may outweigh the healing period on his leg. Ivey detailed childhood trauma, abuse, a pornography addiction, becoming a parent, and finally finding his faith to help lead him out of those dark times.
News and Notes
On the 7PM in Brooklyn show, former Pistons forward Blake Griffin talked about signing with Los Angeles in free agency and then promptly getting traded to Detroit six months later.
The Pistons are in the thick of the playoff race and could opt to be buyers at the trade deadline according to Brett Siegel.
Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green spoke at length about Cade Cunningham, why he should be an All-Star, and what makes him so special.
Speaking of Cunningham, Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports talked about how the former first-overall pick has embraced being a franchise player and crafting his chapter of Pistons lore.
Should the Pistons be buyers at the deadline? Will they stay in playoff contention? And what about some of the other teams in the East also looking to improve? These are some of the questions that will be answered in the coming weeks. Let us know what you think and we may talk about it on the Palace of Pistons Podcast.
See you next week.
Mike