With only nine NBA players available, the Detroit Pistons arrived at Moda Center on Thursday night, undermanned, but not overwhelmed.
After a flurry of deadline deals, including the release of former lottery draft pick Kilian Hayes, Joe Harris and Danilo Gallinari hours before tipoff, the Pistons looked sluggish and uninspired early. Then, despite a career-high 49 points from Portland Trail Blazers forward Jerami Grant, the lowly Pistons rallied from a 23-point, third-quarter deficit to claim a 128-122 overtime victory.
The Trail Blazers shot just 1-for-9 in the extra stanza. Coming off a win at the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday, the Pistons earned back-to-back wins for the first time since Oct. 27-28, 2023.
X (Twitter) users reacted to the Pistons’ largest comeback since 1997-98 and winning with seven standard contract players on the bench.
Here’s a roundup of the Pistons’ deadline deals …
Detroit Pistons trade deadline recap:
IN:
Simone Fontecchio
Quentin Grimes
Shake Milton
Troy Brown Jr.
Evan Fournier
Malachi Flynn
1 x SRP (via MIN)
2 x SRP (via NYKOUT:
Killian Hayes
Joe Harris
Monte Morris
Bojan Bogdanovic
Alec Burks
2 x SRP (2024)How we feeling? pic.twitter.com/lAv6iFjzpz
— Jack Kelly (@jack_kelly_313) February 8, 2024
Immediately after the final buzzer, Pistons point guard Jaden Ivey celebrated his 26-point effort with his teammates: “Hey … way to go” …
#DetroitWins pic.twitter.com/SAnBcquc0n
— Detroit Pistons (@DetroitPistons) February 9, 2024
Emerging star and second-year center Jalen Duren is pulling double duty …
Jalen Duren grabbed a career-high 22 rebounds (8 off.) with 27 points and three blocks tonight vs POR for his second career 20-20 performance. He is the youngest player in NBA history (20 y, 82 d) with 27 PTS and 22 REB in a game and ranks 5th in the NBA with 12.0 RPG this season pic.twitter.com/iBRDnWdL0J
— Pistons PR (@Pistons_PR) February 9, 2024
After scoring a career-high 37 points against the Kings on Wednesday, Ivey continued his offensive surge Thursday, hitting all seven of his 3-point attempts. Is Ivey learning to play with more space and with fellow guard Cade Cunningham? …
Make that TWO career-high nights in a row for @IveyJaden pic.twitter.com/Ajd4pcVDGn
— Detroit Pistons (@DetroitPistons) February 9, 2024
Rested and playing with an edge, Cunningham, who returned after missing Wednesday’s game in Sacramento due to left knee injury management, added 23 points …
Cade Cunningham gets fouled on this play and 20 seconds later he got a tech for talking to referee about it 🙃
— Pistons Talk (@Pistons__Talk) February 9, 2024
A former Piston, Grant “had his way,” coach Monty Williams said during his post-game press conference …
Jerami Grant left it all on the floor, dropping 49 PTS for a new career high as the Trail Blazers fell in OT. pic.twitter.com/7OL8rHXiTX
— NBA (@NBA) February 9, 2024
The Pistons’ new starting lineup started slowly as the Trail Blazers pulled out to a 71-56 halftime advantage. The Blazers scored 41 points in the second quarter, but only 49 during the third and fourth quarters combined …
Our five#DetroitBasketball | @Kia pic.twitter.com/IF2eQvDdj8
— Detroit Pistons (@DetroitPistons) February 9, 2024
With 4:59 remaining in the third quarter, the Pistons had a 0.7 percent chance of coming back …
They had us in the first half, not gonna lie.#DetroitBasketball pic.twitter.com/kzfGkvZUIx
— Bally Sports Detroit (@BallySportsDET) February 9, 2024
Helping to spark a dominant first half, Trail Blazers rookie guard Ashton Hagans produced his first professional points …
First career bucket for Ashton 🔥 pic.twitter.com/A8BLzHWwH3
— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) February 9, 2024
Cutting into the Trail Blazers’ double-digit lead, Duren’s putback at 6:12 of the fourth quarter pulled the Pistons within 111-103 …
Jalen Duren with the putback slam to help Detroit get the OT win!
Duren finished the game with 27 PTS and 22 REB (career high) 💪💪 pic.twitter.com/SWfiwU1pGL
— NBA (@NBA) February 9, 2024
Trailing by five points with 1:29 remaining in the fourth quarter, rookie Macus Sasser fueled the Pistons’ comeback with a clutch triple, cutting the Trail Blazers’ lead to two (118-116) …
TOUGH SASSER pic.twitter.com/FWHyDVHpCt
— Detroit Pistons (@DetroitPistons) February 9, 2024
Pistons rookie Ausar Thompson, who has struggled with his offense this season, executed a game-tying dunk with 21.1 seconds remaining, forcing overtime …
Ausar Thompson ties the game with 21.3 seconds remaining!
Pistons-Trail Blazers | Live on the NBA App
📲 https://t.co/2Qjv8Jehl4 pic.twitter.com/qsuPGHYRlt— NBA (@NBA) February 9, 2024
Grant’s 14-foot jump shot opened the overtime scoring, but the Pistons, who have struggled on defense this season, prevented the Trail Blazers from scoring over the final 4:35 to secure the road win …
Jerami Grant's got 49 ‼️
Portland leads 122-120 in OT.
Pistons-Trail Blazers | Live on the NBA App
📲 https://t.co/2Qjv8Jehl4 pic.twitter.com/oi7Bg4vYSF— NBA (@NBA) February 9, 2024
Final score: Pistons 128, Trail Blazers 122 (OT) …
#DetroitBasketball goin’ BAAACK TO BACK pic.twitter.com/mrTWt0ZzFT
— Detroit Pistons (@DetroitPistons) February 9, 2024
Ivey spoke post-game on the new-look Pistons …
Johnny Kane caught up with Jaden Ivey, who helped propel the Pistons to their second win in a row, a 128-122 overtime victory over the Trailblazers, with 26 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, including going 7-7 from 3-point range.#DetroitBasketball pic.twitter.com/bxqmphIvcg
— Bally Sports Detroit (@BallySportsDET) February 9, 2024
Referring to all the player moves, back-to-back travel days and a 23-point, third-quarter deficit, Williams said postgame: “It’s pretty cool to see the guys hang in there” …
“We didn’t give in”@wingstop | #DetroitBasketball pic.twitter.com/3aO6dEqVw9
— Detroit Pistons (@DetroitPistons) February 9, 2024
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