It's A Make Or Miss League: 3 Observations From The Pistons Gritty Win Over Denver
After being down 24-7 only five minutes into the game, everyone wrote off the Pistons' chances to win this game: everyone besides the Pistons themselves that is. Detroit found themselves down 44-30 after the first quarter but outscored Denver 38-21 in the second quarter due in part by the play of the Pistons' young core. Detroit went on to beat Denver 128-123. In what was an exciting game to watch, here at Palace of Pistons we like to make three observations from every game.
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1. The young guys can ball
Detroit scored 68 points in the first half with 38 of them coming from rookie Sekou Doumbouya, second-year guard Bruce Brown and second-year forward Svi Mykhailiuk. Doumbouya led the pack with 17 in the first half on 6-9 shooting and 2-3 from behind the arc.
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24-year-old big man Christian Wood joined the party in the second half, putting up nine points in the third quarter and finishing with 11 points on the night. Doumbouya finished the night with 17 points, Brown with 19 points and Mykhailiuk with 13.
2. The bench brought Detroit life
Coming into today's matinee, the Pistons were third in the NBA in bench scoring at 48.1 points per game and that did not change tonight. That bench production showed up yet again tonight as Detroit's bench combined for 62 points, led by Reggie Jackson with 20 points along with six assists and three rebounds in 34 minutes. Detroit's bench outscored Denver's bench 62-26.
3. Bruce Brown is blossoming in front of our eyes
The Pistons have seen a lot of improvement out of Brown already this year as all of his averages have improved over the course of the season. However, Brown's game today against the Nuggets was one of the best games I have ever seen him play.
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The second-year guard finished today's game with 19 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists on 7-10 shooting from the floor and 3-3 from beyond the arc in 37 minutes off the bench. What was so impressive about what Brown did today wasn't the fact that he played 37 minutes or that he shot the ball efficiently, but that he almost had a triple-double without turning the ball over.
If Brown can continue to show flashes of excellence, Detroit is in a safe place at the point guard spot in the future.
The Pistons are now 18-33 and face the Memphis Grizzlies tomorrow at 8:00 p.m. EST.