National Basketball Association

Grading the Detroit Pistons win over the Denver Nuggets

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

foxsports

The Detroit Pistons (4-2) had a huge bounceback win tonight, with a 103- 86 win over the Denver Nuggets (2-3).

The Detroit Pistons started off this game with high energy on both sides of the ball, as they built a 16-2 lead to begin, and never looked back. A focused and stellar performance from Andre Drummond was the catalyst of this win, with several role players off the bench such as Beno Udrih, Jon Leuer, and Stanley Johnson helped in the win.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope

SG, Detroit Pistons

BKCP had a very solid night tonight, making 3 out of 6 from deep, and in total shooting 5 of 11 from the field. The box score only shows that KCP only had one steal, but he was able to get his hands in the passing lanes a multitude of times tonight.

Marcus Morris

SF, Detroit Pistons

BMorris also with a solid performance with 15 points and 6 rebounds. Morris looked like himself tonight, scoring in a variety of ways, and bringing his usual toughness on the defensive end. As he finished with a team high +23.

Tobias Harris

PF, Detroit Pistons

CHarris did not seem to have it going tonight, as he shot 4 for 11 from the field, but this might be his first subpar game of the season, and look for him to bounce back on Monday against the Clippers.

Andre Drummond

C, Detroit Pistons

A+Andre was sensational tonight, and looked as if he wanted to prove a point, as he was locked in tonight. Drummond often times questioned for his focus was alert on both the offensive end and the defensive end, finishing the game with 19 points, 20 rebounds, and three blocks.As well as shooting 7 for 11 at the free throw line. If the Pistons can get this level of consistency and focus from Drummond every night, it will be a significant boost for them.

Stanley Johnson

SF, Detroit Pistons

AJohnson has been struggling mightily before entering this game, and needed a game just like he had tonight. Johnson finished the game with 12 points shooting a very efficient 5 of 7 from the field. I also applaud even when things were going well for him, he did not try and force the issue, like he sometimes tended to do last year.

Aaron Baynes

C, Detroit Pistons

B-Aron only played 12 minutes in this one, as he was not needed in this one, because of Andre’s stellar play. However, when playing Aron offered strong rim protection with three blocks.

Ish Smith

PG, Detroit Pistons

B-Smith finished this game with a nice stat line of 11 points, 8 assists, 4 rebounds and 3 steals. But, his stat line would have looked even better as he missed alot of close range shots, which would often roll off the rim. However, did a great job on defensive end on Mudiay, making him shoot 0 for 7 with 3 turnovers as well.

Jon Leuer

PF, Detroit Pistons

B+Leur played spectacular offensively for the Pistons. Finishing the night with 15 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists, on 6 of 10 shooting. The only reason Leuer does not get an A was because it seemed as he could not stay in front of Wilson Chandler,as he was often getting blown by or having to result to a foul, late in the second quarter. But he improved in the second half on that, and had a solid overall performance.

Darrun Hilliard

SG, Detroit Pistons

DIn his 2 minutes Hilliard made some plays happen as he finished with 2 assists, but he missed his only three point attempt.

Boban Marjanovic

C, Detroit Pistons

DBoban entered the game late, and on his first possession caught the ball, and had a nice turnaround hook, and also got a huge cheer from the crowd because of it.

Henry Ellenson

PF/C, Detroit Pistons

DEllenson did not do much in his two minutes of action he was able to register a rebound.

Michael Gbinije

SG/SF, Detroit Pistons

DGbinije only played 2 minutes in this one, and was not able to connect on his one shot attempt.

Beno Udrih

PG, Detroit Pistons

B+Udrih had a very smart game as he finished with an efficient 7 points and 6 assists in 20 minutes. Udrih started the game taking 3 quick shots, but after that point you could see him trying to find the hot hand as he did with Jon Leuer and Stanley Johnson alot.

Stan Van Gundy

Head Coach, Detroit Pistons

AVan Gundy coached a great game, as it seemed since the start of the game he instilled a defensive mindset in the Pistons, as they got their hands in the passing lanes several times, and held the Nuggets to only totalling 86 points.