San Antonio Spurs vs. Detroit Pistons: Spurs Stay Hot With 5th Straight Win

The San Antonio Spurs continue to be one of the hottest teams in the NBA in their victory agains the Detroit Pistons. DeMar DeRozan and LaMarcus Aldridge carried the Spurs, scoring 26 and 25 points respectively.

The San Antonio Spurs took down the Detroit Pistons 119-107 in the first meeting between the two teams this season. DeMar DeRozan showed out in front of his former coach, and current Detroit Pistons head coach, Dwane Casey. DeRozan stuffed the stat line and almost came away with his second career triple-double. He would end the night with 26 points, 7 rebounds, and 9 assists.

San Antonio has been on a roll as of late. Head Coach Gregg Popovich has this team running like a well-oiled machine. The formula has been relatively simple: Good ball movement, strong defense, and relying on the core four of DeRozan, LaMarcus Aldridge, Bryn Forbes, and Derrick White to fill up the stat sheet. 

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DeRozan and Aldridge are obviously the engines that keep the Spurs running but we can’t rave enough about the contributions of Forbes and White. Forbes has been on an absolute tear over the last month. He’s scored in double digits in 13 out of 16 games over the past month. White has been equally impressive. He’s looking like the player that Spurs fans had hoped he could be when San Antonio took him 29th overall in the 2017 draft.

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White is a strong combo guard capable of scoring from almost everywhere, distributing the ball effectively and defending guards through small forwards. He’s averaging 16.5 points per game over the past 6 games. That’s a rate that seems very sustainable given his usage and efficiency with the ball.

Monday nights game started out rough. Blake Griffin was a problem for the Spurs in the first period. He was getting good looks inside and showing off his three-point stroke as well. Players like that, stretch fours with range, will be a problem for the Spurs.

San Antonio finished the first quarter down 6 points. They came out in the second quarter looking very different. The ball was moving better, everyone was getting involved, Blake Griffin only scored 6 points and the Spurs had a +14 quarter. And that was that, San Antonio took the lead in the second quarter and never gave it back.

San Antonio will try to keep this hot streak going as they travel to Memphis to face off with the struggling Grizzlies on Wednesday night. The Grizzlies have now lost 6 in a row and look nothing like the team that started out the year as one of the hottest in the Western Conference.

The Grizzlies have now lost 6 in a row and look nothing like the team that started out the year as one of the hottest in the Western Conference. With that in mind, the Spurs should be able to keep it rolling.