Pistons reserves are the stars in win over Bulls
Auburn Hills — In the fourth quarter, with the game in the balance, Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy stuck with the group that got him there.
And it wasn’t the starting five.
The group had Tobias Harris and four reserves, but they did what they needed to get the Pistons over the hump and back into a decisive lead.
They saved the Pistons, who squandered a 17-point lead in the second quarter but bounced back to take a 102-91 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday night at The Palace. It’s the Pistons' sixth win in the last eight games and kicks off a streak of three games in four days, continuing tonight in Charlotte.
BOX SCORE: Pistons 102, Bulls 91
They group, which included Ish Smith, Darrun Hilliard, Jon Leuer, Aron Baynes and Harris, played extended minutes and Drummond and Caldwell-Pope only subbed in during the final few minutes to provide a respite, all while playing shut-down defense and keeping the Bulls at bay.
“That group that we came in with played extremely well; they just turned the game. We played great defense and held them to 19 points in the fourth quarter,” Van Gundy said. “They played well and other than Ish’s 10 assists and Tobias’ scoring, it wasn’t numbers. They played very well at both ends and we stuck with them and let them finish the game.”
Harris finished with 22 points and seven rebounds in 40 minutes and Baynes added eight points and a season-high nine rebounds. Smith had an off shooting night (2-of-11), but chipped in seven points, five rebounds and 10 assists.
Van Gundy wasn’t afraid to go against the grain and stick with the group that got him there, rather than go back to the starters, who were good, but didn’t match the production that the second unit provided, especially in the critical juncture in the fourth quarter, when they opened with a 72-71 deficit.
“That’s really hard, for guys like Marcus (Morris), Andre and Reggie (Jackson). They’re really good players and they want to be in in those situations; it’s tough for them,” Van Gundy said. “But for me, it would have been hard to pull that group off the floor. It’s not like they were hanging in there or outplaying that other group by just a little bit — they were dominant in that stretch and there was no way to break that lineup.”
After Nikola Mirotic opened the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer, Harris answered with a 3-pointer and Baynes followed with six straight points, including a dunk, a putback and two free throws. Hilliard added a corner 3-pointer, to make it a 12-0 run and an 83-75 lead with 7:29 left.
Jimmy Butler (32 points, six rebounds and four assists) looked to lead another comeback, with six straight Bulls points down the stretch and a lay-in from Isaiah Cannan to cut it to 89-83 with 5:03 remaining.
Van Gundy’s sticking with that reserve group paid off, as they were able to put the game away with some clutch shots, even after Drummond and Caldwell-Pope subbed for Baynes and Hilliard.
“We were just moving the ball and playing great defense and getting easy shots for each other. In that little stint, we just stopped them a couple times and Jimmy made a couple difficult shots,” Hilliard said. “It shows he trusts us and has confidence in us. Any time the starters aren’t up to par, he knows he can go to the bench and we’ll come out with energy.”
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Drummond finished 15 points and 10 rebounds and Caldwell-Pope had 12 points for the Pistons (12-11).
The Pistons jumped out to an 8-0 lead behind back-to-back 3-pointers by Morris and Harris. Jackson (seven points and seven assists in 18 minutes), in his second game back from knee tendinitis rehab, was fouled on a 3-pointer and made two of the three free throws.
The Bulls answered with seven straight points, with a 3-pointer by Rajon Rondo, a lay-in by Dwyane Wade (19 points) and a hook by Taj Gibson.
Drummond had one of his best halves of the season, playing with energy on both ends of the court. He helped out defensively and helped protect the basket, then worked toward the rim on putbacks and easy dunks.
He scored eight of the Pistons’ next 10 points, with a tip-in, a dunk and two-alley-oops. Morris (13 points) also had a jumper during the flurry, part of a 10-4 spurt that opened the lead to 21-11 at the 5:02 mark of the first quarter.
The lead got to 47-30 after a strong drive by Jackson and a free throw by Caldwell-Pope. But Butler scored 14 of the Bulls’ final 18 points of the half and fueled their closing 10-0 run, which made it 51-44 at halftime.