Andre Drummond Makes Free Throws To Send Pistons To OT, Complete 16-Point Comeback

By Ashley Scoby
@AshleyScoby

The Detroit Pistons won a basketball game, 127-122, because of Andre Drummond's free throw shooting.

That is not a joke, a lie or a desperate plea from those at the Palace of Auburn Hills. On Wednesday against the Suns, it was simply the truth.

Drummond stepped to the line with 14.3 seconds remaining, with his shoulders bearing the pressure of not screwing up a 16-point comeback.

"A whole different type of focus just came over me," he said. "Everybody that knows me knows I don't like to lose, so just a whole different mindset, focus at the line really just took over me. I took my time and made the shots."

The Detroit big man is still one of the worst from the line in the league. Of all the players in the NBA who have stepped to the line this year, Drummond is the sixth-worst, at 38.2 percent. He's statistically better than Chandler Parsons. He's better than DeAndre Jordan. He is not better than many other NBA players.

"You just let him know you've got faith in him, tell him knock them down, and there's no 'if,'" Pistons guard Reggie Jackson said. "I just tell him to knock them down and mentally, he told me he got it. That's all I've got to hear, and I trusted in him. He came up big."

With the game on the line Wednesday, Drummond did what franchise players do, and won a game for his franchise – or at least gave it a chance to.

"That was amazing," forward Marcus Morris said. "That's really what won us the game."

He had help: Jackson poured in 34 points and 16 assists, and Morris added 24 in his first game against his former team. Detroit made 50.6 percent of its shots, including 12 of 27 three-pointers. And it almost wasn't enough.

Defense was scarce overall, as the Pistons had significant trouble guarding Phoenix's smaller lineup. Suns guards Eric Bledsoe, Devin Booker and Brandon Knight accounted for 61 points and 8-of-21 shooting from three-point range.

Bledsoe slashed through the Pistons' defense at will, for layups of his own or for kick-out opportunities. And the Suns splashed them. Fourteen of 33 three-point attempts (42.4 percent) fell for Phoenix. They rolled through the second half, eventually leading 102-86 with 8:25 remaining.

Then they froze. From the 7:18 mark of the fourth quarter on, the Suns didn't score until Detroit had ripped off an 18-0 run and taken a 107-104 lead.

"What we were searching for quite honestly was a defensive scheme that would work with a total lack of effort, and we couldn't find it," Pistons head coach Stan Van Gundy said. "It was a matter of effort and a will to stop people, and for whatever reason, with six minutes to go in the game, we decided that, you know, 'Okay, maybe we'll try to stop them for a little bit here.'"

Lucky for Detroit, Drummond decided to make his free throws, too. The big man finished 6 of 17 from the line, and 8 of 16 from the field for 22 points to go with his 12 rebounds.

With the win over Phoenix, the Pistons sweep the season series, and slip just above .500 at 10-9.