The Pistons won this critical match up over the Bulls by a score of 109-95 tonight. With this win Detroit now passes Chicago in the Playoff standing to take possession of the seventh seed.
The Pistons got out to an awful start in this game, as they have done most games as of late. The Bulls led by 12 pints after the first quarter as Chicago jumped out to an early 26-14 lead. It looked like it was going to be anther disappointing night where the Pistons under preform in a very winnable game. It was even worse considering that Dwayne Wade and Rajon Rondo both missed this game with injury. However, it was all Detroit after that miserable first quarter.
Detroit exploded in the second quarter with 37 points and only trailed by 4 points at half time. Aron Baynes was a big part of this serge as he scored 10 of his 12 points in the first half. It was him making put backs and even a nice jump shot that kept the Pistons in the game early when nothing seemed to be falling. Once the Pistons got it close it was Reggie Jackson that led the charge in the second half.
After scoring just 2 points on 1-6 shooting in the first half, Jackson couldn’t miss after halftime. He scored 24 points on 10-10 shooting in the second half and led the Pistons in scoring overall with 26. Jackson played very controlled, not putting up the wild shots he has in other games, and that was the key to his success tonight. He drove to the basket when he had a lane and used a nice step back jumper when he was blocked off. This is the kind of game we’ve been waiting for from Reggie and it gives a lot of hope that he may have finally figured it out this year with coach Van Gundy’s new strategy of playing each point guard for about six minutes at a time.
Other notable Pistons from tonight included Andre Drummond (12 points on 4-7 shooting and 8 rebounds), Tobias Harris (13 points and 8 rebounds), John Leuer (16 points and 6 rebounds) and Stanley Johnson. Johnson actually had a lackluster night scoring, but he made a lt of great hustle plays that were critical when the Pistons were taking the lead in the fourth quarter.
For the short handed Bulls, Jimmy Butler did most of the work scoring tonight. His 27 points led all scorers in the game. Butler also led all rebounders in the game with 9 boards. Robin Lopez also added 18 points and Cameron Payne added 14 points off the bench.
The Pistons had a big win tonight as they improved their playoff position. However, their work isn’t done as they look to move to the sixth seed in a match up with the Pacers who are only a game ahead of Detroit. But that’s Wednesday’s game. For now let’s just enjoy a big win over a potential playoff team. Because for the first time in a while things are looking good for Detroit Basketball.
Palace of Pistons 
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