“No one knew how many games it was in a row, but it was a pretty big eye-opener”.
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Detroit Pistons center Andre Drummond dunks during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the New York Knicks, Thursday, Feb. 4, 2016 in Auburn Hills, Mich. Arron Afflalo, 1 of 5 in the first half, hit his first seven shots of the second half.
Then, unfortunately, the third quarter happened. Van Gundy used Hilliard for Morris in the first half, but subbed him in for Johnson in the second half. The Knicks started seeing shots fall and didn’t see many they didn’t like thereafter. “Our guys just didn’t come to play in the first half, and we dug ourselves the kind of hole where everything has to go right for you to have a chance”.
It was a disgrace of a first half – 24 minutes of a team looking like it already had quit on the season. Anthony Tolliver made a late-clock triple on the next possession to retake the lead for the hosts, but that was just prelude to two game-icing shots from point guard Reggie Jackson.
The two teams are scheduled to meet three times and the Knicks already hold a win over the Pistons and are trying to get another victory against an East rival.
But it turned out the Knicks had only quit on the half.
Andre Drummond has definitely stepped his game up and has been putting up monster numbers in points and rebounds to show that he is the best player in the team.
Tolliver’s 3-pointer with 1:47 remaining put the Pistons ahead again after they’d blown a 27-point lead, and Detroit went on to beat the New York Knicks 111-105 on Thursday night. Glue and a butterfly bandage closed it, no stitch necessary.
FREE THROW – It’s good to be 19.
The Knicks trailed by as much as 27 – tying their third-biggest deficit this season – midway through the second quarter. Knicks coach Derek Fisher didn’t have any qualms about putting PG Jose Calderon in the starting lineup after a four-game absence. The other option for Van Gundy is to replace Caldwell-Pope with Johnson and essentially replicate Johnson’s former role by splitting the 20-plus minutes he played between Hilliard and Reggie Bullock – using Hilliard at shooting guard and Bullock at small forward.
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Kristaps Porzingis had a very quiet night in the game, as he only scored five points with four rebounds. Toronto was 35 of 47 from the line in beating the Pistons last Saturday, a season-high in attempts by a Detroit opponent.
