Down 19 points in the third quarter, the game turned around thanks in large part to its unsung players, including rookie Peyton Siva.
What happened
It looked like the latest in the long line of pathetic losses for the Pistons as Detroit trailed the majority of game thanks to nonexistent defense, especially on the perimeter. Eventually, Detroit found itself down 19 points midway through the third quarter.
The body language was horrible and the on-ball defense was pitiful as the Celtics drove by every player and every pass seemed to find a wide-open teammate. Jerryd Bayless, Jared Sullinger, and Phil Pressey combined to shoot 11-of-16 from 3 for crying out loud.
The Celtics came out of halftime lights out from deep, with five attempts in their first six shots. And they made four of those 3-pointers. But then somewhere, somehow the Pistons found a spark. Greg Monroe hustled into the lane and made some shots. Brandon Jennings' jumpers started falling. Josh Smith mixed in some truly bone-headed decisions with some hot perimeter shooting (which is in itself a boneheaded decision). Andre Drummond did Andre Drummond things (rebounds and dunks). Suddenly, the Pistons entered the fourth quarter down only 10 and with all the momentum.
That momentum could have stalled early in the fourth when John Loyer turned to his bench but somehow the team just found another gear.
Who stood out
Peyton Siva. Don't get me wrong, Siva didn't have a great game by any stretch. He is a rookie who also is limited as a player and he's got a long way to go. But in a game where Drummond nearly had another 20-20 night (19 points, 20 rebounds) and Greg Monroe rebounded after maybe his worst game of the season, finishing with 21 points and seven rebounds, it was Peyton Siva that made me stand up and take notice.
And it was for one simple reason. He played with passion. He hustled everywhere at all times. He forced the issue on defense and made his defender and the Boston team react. And the energy Siva brought to the floor was infectious. It was almost like when the team has a player who tries hard and defends well at the point of attack the entire team almost looks like a competent defensive team. Almost.
Siva finished with three points (all free throws), five assists, no turnovers and two steals. And hopefully made the case to receive even more playing time going forward.
Bullets
Speaking of making the case for more playing time, Jonas Jerebko was also a big reason that the Pistons staged their comeback. He also didn't make much of a dent in the scoring column, but he did provide a needed boost in energy and rebounded well in his limited minutes.
I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that it was one of Rodney Stuckey's good nights. The first one in a while it seems. He was driving to the rim and getting to the line (he shot 10-of-12 from the charity stripe). He led all scorers with 26 points.
Josh Smith played 27 minutes and collected zero rebounds. That's an indication of where his effort level was for most of the game.
Also, why isn't Kyle Singler our starting small forward?
For those rooting for a Pistons loss due to draft pick considerations this one might hurt. If the Pistons lose out on the seventh pick by one game they might be haunted by the image of Jerryd Bayless launching a 3 with seconds left in the fourth quarter with the Celtics down two. The ball went three-quarters of the way down, clanged off the rim a few times before bouncing out and into the arms of a Piston.
But to cheer the doom and gloom crowd up, the Pistons had to fight tooth and nail to beat the Boston Celtics at home after the Celtics just dropped a game to the Philadelphia 76ers the night before. This was by far the easiest game remaining on the Pistons schedule and they should be heavy underdogs for the rest of the year.
This recap is dedicated to relatively new Pistons fan Kathy Clater, who I hoped enjoyed the game, or at least reading about it.
Roll Call
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Commenter
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1
Kellen Moore Our Savior?
82
2
Kriz
36
3
Habbidabs
31
4
scatterbrain
31
5
Rattling Bones
30
6
IamPAP
27
7
Joe Cool99
26
8
MrHappyMushroom
25
9
Prequal
17
10
sabetodo
16
11
J Dre
10
12
TDP
8
13
kathy.clater.3
7
14
Sean_Corp
5
15
DKohn81
4
16
revken
3
17
Goose15
3
18
Justin Lambregtse
3
19
Ejohns1004
2
20
samfredmike
2
21
SRK756100
2
22
BandWagonerPaysTheDues
2
23
bonerici
2
24
RSF86
1
25
FlyMonk321
1
26
sld12
1
27
Glutton for Punishment (Lionsfan)
1
28
alaskanpistonsfan
1
29
Frankdog
1