Detroit Pistons vs San Antonio Spurs: Takeaways & Star Performer

The San Antonio Spurs (51-9) beat the Detroit Pistons (31-30) 97-81 on Wednesday Night. The Spurs clinched a playoff birth with their 29th straight home win.

The miles traveled by the Spurs during their road trip did not seem to hurt them as they returned home after their eight game road trip in which they went 7-1. Kawhi Leonard scored 27 points and LaMarcus Aldridge added 23 points and 10 rebounds as the Spurs.

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Leonard and Aldridge excelled. They combined to shoot 23 for 38 from the field with Leonard scoring 17 points in the first half and Aldridge putting up 15 in the final two quarters. Detroit whom were littered with injuries, were without Stanley Johnson and Anthony Tolliver.

Marcus Morris and Tobias Harris had 16 points each for the Pistons, who had a four-game winning streak snapped. The Pistons were putting up a fight in the first half as they saw themselves down by one, 52-51. Then, the second half happened and the Spurs defense as they do, buckled down and took control the game.

Spurs came out surging in the third quarter as they outscored the Pistons, 27-14, which started with a 12-2 San Antonio run. Aldridge nearly outscored the Pistons on his own as he finish the quarter with 13. Detroit’s offense sputtered and had no answers to the Spurs on the defensive end. In the fourth quarter, the Spurs held the Pistons to 16 points.

Aldridge and Tim Duncan held Detroit center Andre Drummond to nine points and 14 rebounds, ending his career-high and the league’s season-high of consecutive double-doubles at 13 straight.

Overall, the Spurs held the Pistons to 81 points and 39.7 percent shooting. On the other end, San Antonio continued their hot shooting at the AT&T Center hitting 51.2 percent of their shots.

The Spurs joined the Golden State Warriors (54-5) as the only teams to clinch spots in the postseason.

Key Takeaways

-Taking Care of the Ball

The San Antonio Spurs took care of the ball Wednesday night as they had a total of eight turnovers in the game. Ball movement was on point for the team as they did not force passes.

Mar 2, 2016; San Antonio, TX, USA; San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich talks with guard Andre Miller (24) during the second half against the Detroit Pistons at AT&T Center. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports

-Defense Steps-Up

A first half that maybe caught everyone by surprise as they saw the Pistons down by one. Though their is two halves in a game, that’s all it took for San Antonio to turn things around. Holding the Pistons to just 30 points in the second half and 39 percent shooting sealed the win. They also forced Detroit to turn the ball over 15 times.

-Andre Miller’s First Game

Miller signed with the Spurs on Monday and did get some playing time Wednesday. He tallied seven minutes and had two assists and two rebounds in his debut.

Star Performer: LaMarcus Aldridge

Aldridge started the third quarter as the Spurs went on a 12-2. He almost, single handedly outscored the Pistons in the quarter as he finished with 13, Detroit finished with 14. Aldridge is in rare form and looks to be the player he was while in Portland. In 35 minutes of play, he was 10 of 16 from the floor and reached another double-double, 23 and 10 rebounds.

Notes:

–Patty Mills: Seven points, seven assists

–Kyle Anderson: Seven points, five rebounds

–Tony Parker: 10 points, four assists, three rebounds

–Tim Duncan: 12 points, eight rebounds