Perhaps the biggest surprise in the NBA over the last few weeks has been the dramatic turnaround of the Detroit Pistons. After waiving Josh Smith, the Motown crew went on to win their next seven games in a row. Brandon Jennings, especially, has seen his play ascend to previously unseen heights as last night’s win over the Raptors shows.
Detroit went into Toronto on Monday night playing with their new attitude in recent weeks and looking to get revenge on the Raptors from a loss at the Palace in December — where a lot of Raps fans made their voices heard throughout the game.
After trailing by 12 points at halftime, the Pistons came out gunning in the second half, scoring 34 points and holding the Raptors to 23 in the third period alone. Brandon Jennings led the Pistons’ third quarter rally, dropping 15 of his 20 second-half points.
The game came down to the wire after Kyle Lowry nailed a three-pointer to make it a one-point game with less than a minute remaining in regulation. After Kentavious Caldwell-Pope made a pair of free throws for Detroit, Jennings stole the ball from Lowry at midcourt to seal the 114-111 victory for the Pistons.
His game-sealing steal capped off a terrific night for Jennings, who finished with 34 points and 10 assists on 11-22 shooting. Head coach Stan Van Gundy praised Jennings after the game:
“Brandon was unbelievable,” Detroit coach Stan Van Gundy said. “He just put us on his back and carried us.”
Since the Smith waiving, Jennings has turned into an all-star caliber player:
Brandon Jennings vs. the Josh Smith release:
Before: 12.6 pts, 6.4 ast, 36.8 FG%, 15.5 PER
After: 20.3 pts, 7.0 ast, 47.0 FG%, 28.8 PER— Tom Haberstroh (@tomhaberstroh) January 13, 2015
The Pistons have now won nine out their last 10 games. Check out the highlights from Jennings’ impressive double-double performance from Monday night below:
(video via Dawk Ins)
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