Detroit Pistons' new dynamic duo: Andre Drummond and Reggie Jackson
The new season of the NBA is now underway, and the Detroit Pistons have bettered their W/L record from their previous season (2-4) to 5-1 this season. The record speaks for the fact that they are on the rise in the Eastern Conference, though some would say that it is too early in the season to judge, with only 6 games played so far. The credit for this dramatic turnaround in their performance should largely go to the new duo of Reggie Jackson and Andre Drummond.
Reggie Jackson was acquired via a three-team trade from Oklahoma City Thunder, which also included the Utah Jazz. So far, it seems as though Oklahoma’s loss has been Detroit’s gain. The dynamite duo of Drummond and Jackson have been very effective since the season opener, winning their first game by 12 points (106-94) against the Atlanta Hawks, who had the best win-loss record in the eastern conference last season. Combined, Jackson and Drummond scored 33 points in the game, with Drummond also grabbing 19 rebounds.
In their second match against the Utah Jazz, Drummond and Jackson scored a combined 37 points, as Drummond had a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds. However, the interesting aspect about this win for the Pistons was that they had managed to convert only 40.5% of their shots from the field where as the Jazz had converted 46.7% of their shots in this game.
Detroit won this game due to a better conversion ratio from the free throw line and the three point line i.e. 73.5% and 36.8% respectively. In their third game against the Bulls, Andre Drummond and Reggie Jackson combined scored 42 points, but the top scorer for the Pistions was Marcus Morris with 26 points.
Drummond had 20 points and 20 rebounds from this game, which enabled the Pistons to win the first three games of the current regular season.
In their foruth game against Paul George and the Indiana Pacers, the Pistons tasted their first defeat of the regular season despite the fact that Jackson and Drummond had combined to score 45 points, of which Drummond had scored 25 points and grabbed 29 rebounds. This game also marked a back to back 20-20 game for Drummond – finishing a game with 20 or points and 20 or more rebounds).
In their fifth game against the Phoenix Suns, Andre Drummond wasn’t that great offensively as he had scored only 12 points, but he grabbed 17 rebounds and Reggie Jackson scored 23 points and had 7 assists to his credit. Their combined score was 35 points, the Pistons won this game as they had managed to convert 50% of their shots from the field and they shot 36.4% from the 3 point land where as, the Phoenix Suns had converted 40.2% shots from the field and they convereted 33.3% of their shots from the 3 point land.
Finally, against the Trail Blazers Reggie Jackson scored a career high 40 points and Andre Drummond finished this game with a third consecutive game with 20 or points alond 20 or more rebounds. Also, they combined score was 79 points as they had bounced back from a 13 points deficit and went on to win the game by a 17 point margin.
Jackson and Drummond have combined to score 271 points from the 6 games so far, and their combined score average stands at 45.1 points a game. How long can this Pistons run last? Only time will tell. But with the duo on the rise, Pistons fans will hope that their team will make to the post season this year.