Process That: Blake Griffin Drops 50 in Overtime Thriller

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NBA

Process That: Blake Griffin Drops 50 in Overtime Thriller

On Tuesday night, the Detroit Pistons hosted the Philadelphia 76ers at Little Caesars Arena. Blake Griffin dominated from the start, scoring 22 points in the second quarter alone. He finished the game with 50 points, 14 rebounds, and 6 assists. Griffin shot 57% from the field and scored the game winning and-one layup in overtime.

The Usual (Personal) Matchup

The 76ers were missing their floor general in Ben Simmons, but there was no shortage of entertainment. They won all four games of the season series last year, where Joel Embiid excelled in taunting Andre Drummond. This was the reason that the Pistons came out of the gate looking to attack and not back down.

Drummond made sure to put his body on Embiid on offense and defense. He has been getting outplayed by Embiid, but it was noticeable that Embiid was not completely comfortable in the first half as he found himself in foul trouble. Statistically, his discomfort was not so apparent, as Embiid had a solid 33 points, 11 rebounds and 7 assists.

In between all the trash talk and taunting, Drummond did manage to swat away one of Embiid’s attempts to get the Detroit crowd hyped up. However, Embiid won the personal battle as his flop led to Drummond’s second technical foul and eventual ejection.

Superstar Processing

For the most part, it has been a long time since Pistons’ fans have had something to cheer for. In addition, it has been even longer since they’ve had an unstoppable superstar who can dominate games. Griffin showed everyone Tuesday night what many NBA fans seemed to forget.

Above all, he’s a superstar point forward and he played as much. He dominated the game from the jump and made his teammates better. On his way to dropping 50 points, he made sure Embiid remembered who the superstar senior on the court was. He did just that in style as he dunked all over him.

The Pistons played with a three guard lineup once again throughout the game. Ish Smith zoomed all over the court, contributing for 21 points and a nifty Embiid fake for a smooth layup. Reggie Jackson and Reggie Bullock also scored 23 and 17 points, respectively.

This was an all-around solid Pistons outing as everyone did their part to hang on, force overtime, and won the game. Zaza Pachulia got a stop on Embiid in the final minute of overtime. Jackson made the go ahead buckets when needed, and Griffin orchestrated it all. This was his world and everyone else was living in it.

Looking Ahead

The Pistons are still in need of defensive improvements as they struggled to hang with JJ Redick, who dropped 30 points. The improvements have been slow and steady. At this early stage in the season, this is acceptable.

This win puts Detroit’s record at 3-0 and makes them one of five teams still undefeated. The Pistons play a lottery-bound Cleveland Cavaliers team on Thursday. Also, they’ll go on to host the Boston Celtics on Saturday night. That has the potential to be a first round playoff matchup.

Notes

Update: On Wednesday October 24th the NBA issued a warning to Joel Embiid regarding their anti-flopping policy. In addition, the L2M review showed that Blake Griffin committed a travel and an offensive foul on Covington on the game-winning play. 

Photo Credit

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