The Detroit Pistons shook off a rough night against the Los Angeles Lakers and came back Monday with a much cleaner answer.
Behind a season-best showing from John Collins, Detroit beat the Washington Wizards 122-111 at Little Caesars Arena on Nov. 9 to move to 7-3. The Pistons were in control for most of the night, building a lead as large as 19 and taking a 10-point edge into halftime after putting up a season-high 68 first-half points.
Collins was the centerpiece of it all. He finished with 24 points, 10 rebounds, two steals and a block, going 9-for-13 from the floor. With Jalen Duren out again because of a right hamstring strain and Isaiah Joe sidelined for a seventh straight game with a right hip contusion, Detroit leaned on Collins at center and got a big return.
The first half was especially sharp. Collins scored 15 of his 24 before the break and set the tone by scoring the Pistons’ first three baskets.
He started with a corner 3-pointer, then finished an alley-oop from Daniss Jenkins, and followed that by taking Wizards big Alex Sarr off the dribble for a finger roll. Later, he added the first two baskets of the second quarter with a hook and a midrange jumper.
Jenkins’ presence helped unlock that version of Collins. After a career night Sunday against the Lakers, when Jenkins scored 31 points and hit eight 3-pointers, he earned a start Monday and pushed Paul Reed to the bench.
The move paid off immediately. Jenkins finished with 22 points, eight assists and four steals, and he stayed on the floor for the entire third quarter.
Detroit’s offense kept spreading the wealth from there. Duncan Robinson added 22 points, Cade Cunningham had 17 points and seven assists, and Kevin Huerter chipped in 12 off the bench. It was the kind of balanced night that let the Pistons absorb a huge scoring burst from Anthony Davis and still stay in front.
Davis was brilliant early for Washington, scoring 30 of his 44 points in the first half while shooting 10-for-11 against a small Detroit starting group. But the Pistons kept answering, and Jenkins helped steady things when Cunningham picked up his fifth foul midway through the third quarter. Jenkins scored seven straight points late in the period, helping Detroit push the lead to 17 at 99-82.
One of the quieter storylines turned into a small bright spot in the fourth quarter. Ebuka Okorie, the No. 17 pick in June’s draft, had barely seen the floor through the first 10 games, with just 15 total minutes entering Monday. But with Cunningham on the bench in foul trouble, he got a real run and made it count.
Okorie’s best moment came early in the fourth, when he finished a tough up-and-under layup in transition, switching hands through contact for a three-point play that stretched the lead to 108-91 with 9:25 left. He later added a floater and finished with five points in six minutes on 2-for-3 shooting.
Detroit won’t have to wait long to see Washington again. The Pistons head back to D.C. for a rematch on Thursday at 8 p.m. on TV20. It will be their second trip to Washington in a month, though the October visit was a preseason game on Oct. 10, when the Wizards won 114-108 in overtime.
In Other News...
Pistons May Have Found A Needed Answer While Jalen Duren Sits
With Jalen Duren sidelined, the Pistons turned to a different look against the Wizards and got exactly the kind of response they needed. John Collins drew the start at center for the first time this season, and the move came after Detroit had dropped two straight, so there was a little more urgency behind the decision than a simple lineup tweak.
Collins rewarded the coaching staff with a strong all-around showing, finishing with 24 points and 10 rebounds in a dominant win. The performance gives Detroit a potentially useful short-term answer in the middle while Duren is out, and it leaves the Pistons with something to consider if they want to keep that look going. [Read more 🡒]
Pistons Found A New Spark That Could Become A Serious Problem
JB Bickerstaffs latest lineup tweak gave the Pistons a different look and, for a night, a needed jolt. By moving Daniss Jenkins into the starting group and sending Paul Reed to the bench, with John Collins sliding in at center, Detroit played with more pace and found enough offense to come away with a win. It was the kind of adjustment that can change the feel of a game quickly, especially for a team still trying to sort out what its best version looks like.
The tradeoff, though, was obvious once the ball started going the other way. The smaller setup left Detroit exposed inside, and Anthony Davis took full advantage, piling up 44 points while controlling the glass. For the Pistons, the question now is whether the boost in tempo is worth the defensive risk, because the new look may have created a spark even as it opened the door to a problem that could linger. [Read more 🡒]
Pistons Exposed A Wizards Problem Anthony Davis Couldnt Ignore
The Wizards recent slide has been about more than just missed shots and empty possessions. After four straight losses, their defense has become the bigger concern, with Anthony Davis pointing to the kind of breakdowns that usually show up in the ugliest kinds of defeats: poor rebounding, too much fouling and far too many clean looks for opponents. What had looked like an early-season strength has slipped into a more ordinary place, and the offense has not been good enough to cover for it.
For a Pistons team watching the East closely, that kind of decline is hard to ignore because it changes how Washington has to play every night. The Wizards are no longer getting the defensive edge that helped them start well, and once that foundation cracks, the rest of the roster has to work harder to keep games under control. The lingering question now is whether this is just a rough stretch or the start of a deeper problem they have not fixed yet. [Read more 🡒]