National Basketball Association

Grading the Detroit Pistons win over the New York Knicks

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

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The Detroit Pistons (3-1) notched their third-straight double-digit victory with a 102-89 win over the New York Knicks (1-2).

The Detroit Pistons scored a season-high 64 first half points on their way to beating the Knicks by 13 points on Tuesday night. The offense cooled down in the second half, but Detroit still made the plays down the stretch to secure the victory. The Pistons finished the game on an 8-0 run and astoundingly held the Knicks scoreless across the game’s final 5:39. Led by the trio of Marcus Morris, Tobias Harris, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Detroit also made 8 of 13 (61.5 percent) from the three-point line. Now for the grades.

Ish Smith

PG, Detroit Pistons

C-Smith finished with 10 points and eight assists, which is fine. But shooting 5/14 from the field is not. I continue to think that Smith is looking for his own shot too much and is settling for poor shots as well. He also had an abysmal six-minute stretch in the fourth quarter, where he got called for a charge, threw a bad pass on an alley-oop, and attempted an errant layup on a fast break with numbers.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope

SG, Detroit Pistons

A-KCP made 4 of 6 from deep and finished with 19 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists for his second strong game in a row. He also applied the dagger by stripping the ball on defense and finishing the ensuing possession with a three to put Detroit up 10 with less than 3 minutes to play.

Marcus Morris

SF, Detroit Pistons

AMorris was assigned the difficult task of defending Carmelo Anthony. And although Melo finished with 24 points, Morris made life much easier for himself by relentlessly attacking Melo all night on the offensive end. Morris made good play after good play to finish with 22 points on 9/14 shooting.

Tobias Harris

PF, Detroit Pistons

A+My player of the game, Harris put together a gem tonight. After foul trouble kept him out most of the first quarter, Harris spent the rest of the game driving to the rack at will. He finished with 25 points and made 8 of 12 from the field and 7 of 8 from the free throw line.

Andre Drummond

C, Detroit Pistons

C-Drummond came out of the gate aggressive and played most of the first half, where he had eight points and nine rebounds. But he finished with only 9 points and 13 rebounds on the night. It could have been fatigue, but Drummond also had one of his stretches in the third quarter where he got moody and lost focus when the calls weren’t going his way.

Jon Leuer

PF, Detroit Pistons

B-Leuer played most of the first quarter after Harris picked up two quick fouls. He was also called upon to guard Kristaps Porzingis when he got hot in the third quarter. Leuer always seems to be in the right place on offense, but he needed better shot selection tonight, as he had two jumpers that were rejected.

Stanley Johnson

SF, Detroit Pistons

C+Stanley Johnson gets a C+ on effort alone, because he cannot buy a bucket through four games this season. Johnson finished 0 for 4 in this one, including a blown bunny on an offensive rebound. But the good news is that he didn’t let that keep him down. He stayed active and played with high energy to contribute in other areas for the Pistons. He also made perhaps the play of the game with a beautiful pass inside to Aron Baynes for a layup to beat the first quarter buzzer.

Beno Udrih

PG, Detroit Pistons

BUdrih had a rough first half trying to keep up with Brandon Jennings, but he stepped it up in his second-half stint. He closed out the third and started the fourth quarter strong and got the Pistons, and himself, some good looks.

Aron Baynes

C, Detroit Pistons

B-Baynes didn’t get much run in this one, playing only 12 minutes, but he did his job — namely contesting shots and being active on the glass — when he was out there. Next: Piston Powered 2016-17 NBA power rankings: Week 1

Stan Van Gundy

Head Coach, Detroit Pistons

B+Van Gundy didn’t have to do much thanks to his team shooting the lights out, but he still made some savvy decisions. He put Harris back in to start the second quarter despite the two fouls and that paid off. Also, in the second, the Pistons saw a seven-point lead get cut down to three, so SVG called time out. A few short minutes later, Detroit had built their lead back up to nine. Tonight was win number 450 for Stan Van Gundy.