Game Recap/Notes: Game #31. Pistons 121 - Nets 124. (8-23)
Tough loss. The Pistons seemed the better team for so much of the game but Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant got hot and that was that. On the one hand it’s exceptionally frustrating because there isn’t much to expect the Pistons to do. On the other hand, that also makes it hard to get too upset about it. Other than how obvious it is that the Pistons need a plus wing defender to toss at guys like KD.
Killian Hayes:
Decent performance but not great. Just 10 points on 4-13 shooting from the field (and 0-5 from deep) isn’t great but bagging 8 assists without a turnover is a nice way to balance out a poor night shooting. The biggest disappointment is probably that he couldn’t do much of anything to slow down Kyrie Irving. That isn’t some grave sin, not many guys can slow down Kyrie when he gets going, and it isn’t like Kyrie did all his damage against Killian, but still. I feel like when you’ve set the bar as high as Killian has with his defensive play it would’ve been nice if he could’ve had a bigger defensive impact, he still made a few really nice defensive plays though.
The thing that continues to stand out the most with regards to his game these days is the degree to which he seems to be in total control of the offense for stretches when he is on the floor and is reading the floor at such a high level. Its great to see.
Jaden Ivey:
By my count, this was comfortably Ivey’s best night since returning from injury. 19 points on 7-11 shooting and 4-6 from the line with 4 rebounds and just 1 assist isn’t a huge night but its an improvement upon where he had been. Ivey found some aggression including a massive dunk that earned him a technical foul after the required flexing. He was especially aggressive early in transition and the “early” part of that is probably the only disappointment tonight. I should’ve taken closer note but he definitely got most of his points earlier in the night. Still a positive night for Ivey as long as what appeared to be a slight knock on his hip at the end isn’t anything serious.
Bojan Bogdanovic:
Almost pedestrian for Bojan at this point. 26 points on 7-16 shooting from the field and 9-9 from the line. He was often the culprit in getting torched by KD but we are not going to hold that against him. Bojan remains an integral part of the offense with the fact that he can get his shot off over most defenders and has some ability to drive toward the hoop. Tonight he even had 4 assists just for good measure. Very solid night for Bojan who continues to stack up performances that make it less and less likely the Pistons can justify keeping him in Detroit past this deadline.
Isaiah Stewart:
Meh. 9 points on 2-7 shooting, 1-3 from deep, with 7 rebounds. This almost felt like pre-three-point revolution Stewart where he just kind of floats around doing nothing offensively for much of the game. He did have a huge block on Joe Harris at the backend of the game which was great but other than that he didn’t stand out much. Not a bad night, like Bojan we are not going to hold it against him that he could do little to slow down Durant.
Jalen Duren:
Seemed like he had a bigger impact than his final stat-line. 9 points and 11 boards in 29 minutes but did go 4-5 to get those 8 points. He did great work in the first half as Killian Hayes repeatedly found him for open dunks but the Nets seemed to adjust their defense in order to not let him find so many open seams. It is worth noting that his one miss tonight came out of a post-up attempt and I gotta say, we can live without that. Post-ups are clearly not in his arsenal at this point and there’s no reason to be looking for them.
Marvin Bagley:
Like several others, he did most of his damage in the first half. Finishing with 12 points on 5-8 shooting in 19 minutes of action with 4 rebounds in addition. This 6th man role seems to be a more comfortable position for Bagley. He’s good enough offensively to be a major problem for most backup bigs and his defense isn’t as big of an issue in short bursts. Bagley is the rare guy who is a terrible defender but not for lack of effort because he does mostly play hard, his problem is that he clearly does not see the floor well on either end of the court. Playing him in smaller minutes allows the effort levels to truly be at a peak level which helps to make up for his inability to be in the right place.
Kevin Knox:
Shoutout to Kevin Knox. I was actively against bringing him in this Summer but my one out was that its possible that he would realize that this could be his last stop in the league if he doesn’t turn things around and kick him into putting in the kind of effort and focus to not be awful defensively and by golly here he is making effort plays and not being a terrible defender. We will see where his shooting ends up in the long run and he still isn’t exactly a good defender, but having a guy with his length and athleticism playing hard is worth something.
Saddiq Bey:
10 points and 1 rebound in 19 minutes. Got a couple of nice buckets where Kyrie got stuck on him and he went right at him but other than that not much impact and struggled to be involved in the offense. Getting continually unsure of what to make of his long-term place with the organization.
Corey Joseph:
Played 16 minutes.
Alec Burks:
Another night another 12 points in 22 minutes on 4-10 shooting. Hit a couple of threes in quick succession and he continues to do exactly his job. Come in and shoot a bunch. Burks has been hugely influential in the Pistons being more competitive as he single-handedly breathes life into the bench mob that was totally absent, with him and Bagley coming off the bench there is genuine offensive firepower.
General:
Like I said at the top, I’m not going to get too upset about two all-time scorers going off to beat you. The Pistons put their best effort forward tonight and came up short.