Do you remember the NBA like 20 years ago?
It was rough and tumble – a slow style where you had to earn your buckets. That’s how the Detroit Pistons game against the New York Knicks felt on Sunday. Both teams shot below 40% in the first half, the game was physically like hell, and no one who watched had fun.
It felt very good to go to work, but if you were not hot and uncomfortable for that era.
You get the picture. New York strangled Jerami Grant when he touched the ball and Wayne Ellington was the only man to hit a shot when Detroit fell 109-90.
When the Pistons-supporting cast hits shots, they all give trouble. Tonight it was one of the Jerami and the Granettes games. The leading All-Star took the lead with 21 points and 8 rebounds, but New York harassed him when he touched the ball.
It seemed like the only clean look he got came on jumpers. He left the game in the fourth quarter for the locker room – looks like a left leg, but we’ll be watching an update.
Speaking of the Knicks defense, it really is. Sure, the Pistons offense is mostly trash, but New York got everything in hand and suffocated Detroit all night. It’s wild, as Julius Randle is such an awkward defensive pattern in the NBA today, but give Thibs credit – they put together a team the Knicks of the 90s would be proud of.
The only non-Jerami players for Detroit who played well were Ellington (15 points off the bench) and Dennis Smith Jr.
Facing his former team, Smith Jr. shot terribly (3/11), but he had the other things: 7 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals. It was not a great game from an eye test perspective, but DSJ continues to do things out there. He is disruptive.
Another glimmer of hope was Saban Lee, who did most of his damage in junk time with 9 points and 4 assists when the Pistons shot just 38.9% as a team.
Defensively, Isaiah Stewart had a few moments. He is sometimes just as upset and in the second quarter he put on a skin protection clinic – blocked a shot and deflected 2-3 other lobe attempts. He finishes with 2 blocks and 10 rebounds.
Stewart sometimes struggles with some very elementary things, but he knows where to be and has a nose for basketball:
He also did well early in the day on Randle, who eventually scored 25 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists. very slow start. Since this match was so blah, I’m going to take a second and sidebar about something that was circulating on Twitter this afternoon:
Fair question: was Chris Bosh ever better than the peak Julius Randle at his highest point? The answer is no.
– Brandon Tierney (@BrandonTierney) 28 February 2021
So, first: Julius Randle is no better than Chris Bosh. Stop it.
This is not bad. This is a stupid take. Randle has had an excellent season and he deserves to be celebrated, but he is no better than the best version of Bosh. He’s a better 3-point shooter now than Bosh in Toronto, but he’s a very inferior defender and does not have the same game inside the arc. It’s fair to say Randle has taken his game to another level, but let’s not compare him to a future Hall of Famer. Please.
RJ Barrett also had a great evening and finished with 21 points (shooting 8/13) with 5 rebounds and 3 assistants. Since Grant had to help Randle and bear the brunt of the offense, Saddiq Bey was left to Barrett. He struggled.
Bey just is not a good enough athlete to protect such guys. Although he is solid against the small forward / power forward intermediate, he has problems when it is the other way around like the athletic Barrett.
And, not to forget, Derrick Rose returned to Detroit, scoring 14 against his former team.
The Pistons have now lost 6 of their last 7 games. falls to 9-25, and will brave the road for a four-game game against the Raptors, Knicks, Hornets and Nets.
The tank rolls on.