Griffin Scores 24 in Detroit's Win Over Memphis

Print

Published on February 2 2018 5:53 am
Last Updated on February 2 2018 5:54 am

By ESPN

Blake Griffin was Detroit's best player in his debut with the Pistons.

Griffin had 24 points and 10 rebounds, and although his new team is still very much a work in progress, the Pistons edged the Memphis Grizzlies 104-102 on Thursday night.

Detroit traded for Griffin earlier in the week. The Pistons haven't had much time to work with him, but they were clearly a better team when he played against the Grizzlies.

"We were plus-23 with him on the floor in 35 minutes, so we were fairly dominant in that time," coach Stan Van Gundy said. "I don't know why we haven't gotten to all this in the hour and 15 minutes we've had together, but we've really got to get our spacing down and understand where we want people to be."

Griffin's teammates looked uncertain at times, but Detroit was able to outlast a Memphis team that is without Tyreke Evans and Mike Conley.

"I wanted to just come out and play hard, being very limited in my knowledge of our offense," Griffin said. "I thought coach Van Gundy did a great job of just putting in five things that we could go to, and we ran them to death, but they worked and everybody just played hard."

Anthony Tolliver's 3-pointer with 1:49 remaining gave Detroit a 101-100 lead, and the score stayed that way until the final seconds. Marc Gasol attempted to drive on Griffin but missed his shot, and a wild scramble led to a jump ball between Tolliver and Dillon Brooks with 10.4 seconds left.

The Pistons controlled that tip, with Reggie Bullock running the ball down in the corner. Tolliver gave Detroit a three-point lead with a pair of free throws, and then purposely fouled Wayne Selden with 2.6 seconds remaining. Selden made the first free throw and the second went in even though he was trying to miss and give his team a chance at an offensive rebound.

Bullock made it 104-102 when he made the second of two free throws with 2 seconds left. The Grizzlies were out of timeouts, and after Gasol caught the ensuing inbound pass near midcourt, his long attempt at the buzzer wasn't close.

"We can't say that our goal is to give ourselves a chance to win, the goal has to be to win," Gasol said. "We have to go out and grab these games when we have the chance."

Griffin was the first Detroit starter announced before the game and received a big hand from the crowd. The arena still didn't appear full -- the Pistons have struggled with attendance for several years -- but the atmosphere was lively, especially during the tight finish.

Griffin's first points came when he powered to the basket and made a shot off the glass. He lobbed a nice alley-oop to All-Star Andre Drummond in the second quarter, although that duo didn't look totally in rhythm together. Drummond had 14 points and 15 rebounds but sat out some of the crucial possessions late.

 

Thursday, February 1 Scoreboard

Detroit 104, Memphis 102

Washington 122, Toronto 119

Minnesota 108, Milwaukee 89

Houston 102, San Antonio 91

Denver 127, Oklahoma City 124

 

Friday, February 2 Schedule (All Times Central)

Indiana at Charlotte, 6 p.m.

Atlanta at Boston, 6:30 p.m.

Los Angeles Lakers at Brooklyn, 6:30 p.m.

Portland at Toronto, 6:30 p.m.

Miami at Philadelphia, 7 p.m.

New York at Milwaukee, 7 p.m.

New Orleans at Oklahoma City, 8 p.m.

Utah at Phoenix, 8 p.m.

Golden State at Sacramento, 9:30 p.m.


Saturday, Feburary 3 Schedule (All Times Central)

Chicago at Los Angeles Clippers, 2:30 p.m.

Miami at Detroit, 6 p.m.

Philadelphia at Indiana, 6 p.m.

Washington at Orlando, 6 p.m

Houston at Cleveland, 7:30 p.m.

New Orleans at Minnesota, 8 p.m.

Utah at San Antonio, 8 p.m.

Golden State at Denver, 8 p.m.

Dallas at Sacramento, 9 p.m.


Sunday, February 4 Schedule Schedule (All Times Central)

Portland at Boston, 11 a.m.

Milwaukee at Brooklyn, 11 a.m.

Atlanta at New York, 11 a.m.

Memphis at Toronto, 11 a.m.

Los Angeles Lakers at Oklahoma City, 1 p.m.

Charlotte at Phoenix, 2 p.m.