Detroit Pistons Weekly Recap: January 7-11

Tuesday night, the Detroit Pistons traveled to “The Big Apple” to face off against the New York Knicks.  The Pistons entered the game with a four-game losing streak.

The game was relatively competitive, up until the third quarter when the Knicks outscored Detroit 32-17.

Detroit made things interesting again in the fourth quarter, but ultimately lost 89-85.  Josh Smith had the best performance of any Piston, scoring 21 points and collecting 12 rebounds.  Smith and Greg Monroe were the only two Pistons players to score at least 15 points.

The following night, Detroit looked to bounce back in a game north of the border against the red hot Toronto Raptors.  Toronto had won seven out of their last 10 games and were looking for their terrific play to continue.

Ultimately, the Pistons were no match for Toronto.  Detroit took a four-point lead into the second half, but the third quarter is where the Raptors spread it wide open.  They outscored the Pistons by 14 points in the third quarter and 11 points in the fourth.

Brandon Jennings finished the game with 22 points and nine assists. However, he struggled shooting from behind the arc, shooting 4-16 from downtown.

This was Detroit’s sixth loss in a row and brought their overall record to 14-22.

Friday night the Pistons finished up their three-game road trip against the Philadelphia 76ers.

Detroit won the game 114-104 due in large part to their great second half performance.  They outscored the 76ers by 18 points in the second half.

Josh Smith had another solid performance, scoring 22 points and grabbing 13 rebounds in 43 minutes of play.  Kyle Singler and Will Bynum also had solid outings, each playing more than 30 minutes off the bench.

Finally, Saturday night, the Pistons returned home to play the Phoenix Suns.  The Pistons were outscored in the final three quarters of the game by 12 points, but a few clutch buckets in the final minute of the game by Josh Smith helped the Pistons get the 110-108 victory.

Jennings had an unbelievable first half, recording 16 assists.  He finished the game with eight points and 18 assists.

This victory brought the Pistons to 16-22 and the holders of a two-game winning streak.  Detroit hosts the underwhelming Utah Jazz, as they come to town Friday night.  The game tips off at 7:30 p.m and can be seen on Fox Sports Detroit.


Cameron Billes is the host of Horsepower for Impact Sports.