AUBURN HILLS >> The Pistons seem to have found their groove winning seven of the last eight they played at The Palace, including four straight home games.
Detroit (25-28) rolled to a 121-102 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday night.
PHOTOS FROM PISTONS WIN OVER THE LAKERS
It was the third loss in four games on this road trip for the Lakers (18-37).
“Right now we’re just trying to win games without getting too far ahead of ourselves,” center Andre Drummond said.
The Pistons added energy to the building by honoring Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas at halftime.
Here are five things to know about the Pistons win:
1. After weeks of third-quarter woes, the for second straight game, Detroit dominated in the third. They went on a 15-8 run early and out-scored the Lakers 36-20 in the third. “We come out of the locker room with a lot of energy, we come out mentally and physically prepared to play. We come in (at halftime) talk about what we need to do for the next half and go out there and execute,” Andre Drummond said.
2. Drummond had his 34th double-double this season finishing with 24 points and 17 rebounds. “I don’t think the league has an answer when he plays like that. It’s all on him each and every night, he can be the most dominant player in the league,” guard Reggie Jackson said. Drummond also had four blocked shots and three steals.
3. The Pistons defense was missing in action early with the Lakers making eight of 10 shots and jumping to an early 18-11 lead. That was not the plan, but they were able to survive. “You don’t want to start like that,” Jackson said, asking who the next opponent will be. It’s the San Antonio Spurs on Friday. “I don’t think we want to let them start eight of 10,” Jackson said. Coach Stan Van Gundy said they didn’t come out ready to defend but did better after that.
4. Reggie Jackson’s stats weren’t great but he was on his game. “He threw three ahead to open people on the fast break in the third quarter, I thought it was great off our defense. I also thought he worked extremely hard defensively on D’Angelo Russell. I thought it was maybe his best defensive game. I thought he really worked to get over screens and out of transition to push the ball ahead. He only took five shots, he only scored four points. I thought he played a hell of a game,” coach Stan Van Gundy said.
5. The Lakers typically depend on their bench and they were good on Wednesday with Lou Williams leading the way with 17 points. In total the Lakers bench scored 51 points. “I thought we did a better job, our bench did a good job both halves,” Van Gundy said. The Pistons bench got 19 from Tobias Harris and 10 each from Ish Smith (who also had seven assists) and Aron Baynes who had six rebounds. Boban Marjanovic, a crowd favorite who doesn’t get much playing time, finished with four points in the last 3:59 of play.
