Don’t look now, but the Detroit Pistons are making some noise.
They certainly have the attention of the rest of the NBA after defeating the defending champion Golden State Warriors at Little Caesars Arena in front of a sold out crowd. The win was Detroit’s ninth in their past 11 games, improving their record to 13-7 on the year and fourth overall in the Eastern Conference. For a team that has struggled with attendance at home games of late, this could go a long way.
Pistons head coach Dwane Casey certainly took notice of the raucous crowd.
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“It was a great crowd, I’m excited everyone wanted to come out,” Casey said following the game. “I think our guys are earning the trust with their hard play and their defensive efforts.
“I thought the crowd kind of got us going, we had a little lull there (in the second half) and they picked us up and got us going.”
Blake Griffin was in the middle of everything, scoring nine of his 26 points on the night in the 4th quarter to put the game out of reach. Of course, Griffin acknowledged the crowd as giving the team a tremendous boost.
“It’s a great win, obviously you can tell by the crowd and atmosphere tonight that they are a big team,” Griffin said. “It’s important to protect home court and I thought we did a good job doing that.”
Reggie Jackson put up 17 points, while Andre Drummond scored 16.
The Pistons have become more acclimated to Casey’s system as the season has gone on, and it’s showing in the team’s efforts night in and night out.
“That is so important that guys are understanding their roles, that guys are playing their roles, accepting their roles, embracing it and being the MVP in their role,” Casey said. “I think that’s so important — understanding that it is a team game. It’s not about one player, everybody’s got to do their job whether it’s screening, spacing, passing the ball, defending, whatever it is just to make sure you do your job on each possession.
“When we win, everybody wins.”
