Ish Smith's layup sends Detroit Pistons to victory over Bulls, 118-116
Vince EllisCHICAGO — The schedule set up for the Detroit Pistons to start 2-0 in the 2018-19 regular season.
And Ish Smith’s layup with 5.4 seconds left allowed them to narrowly accomplish the feat.
Blake Griffin led the way with 33 points, 12 rebounds and five assists to lead the Pistons to a 118-116 victory at the United Center in the Chicago Bulls’ home opener.
After Zach LaVine’s 3-pointer tied the game, Smith capped off a 15-point night with the winner when he easily got to the basket.
LaVine (33 points) went for the win, but lost control of his 3-point attempt and the clock ran out on the Bulls (0-2).
Griffin had to switch on LaVine on the final possession and joked he got a piece of the ball afterward.
"It was just an instinctive play," Smith said of Griffin's defensive "stop."
"Great defensive play bu Blake. Zach let the ball slip out his hands and we just made an instinctive play."
Reggie Jackson scored 18 points and was 4-for-7 from 3-point range.
New Pistons coach Dwane Casey played the final 5:30 of the game with Smith and Jackson in the backcourt. It's a sharp departure from former Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy, who rarely played the two together.
"Our two (point) guard lineup is something we'll see more off," Casey said. "With Reggie, he's one of our best standstill 3-point shooters so we can utilize him (to provide spacing)."
Andre Drummond fouled out with 10 points and 13 rebounds.
The Pistons will take the victory, but an early-season issue is the team’s ineffectiveness when Griffin rests.
Griffin was a game-high plus-17 in 35 minutes. He was also 5-for-7 from 3-point range, making him 6-for-8 on the season.
There were many tense moments late against the Bulls, who aren't going to contend in the Eastern Conference this season — just like the Brooklyn Nets, whom the Pistons defeated in Wednesday night's season opener.
The Pistons almost lost a game where they shot 45 percent (18-for-40) from 3-point range,
But the Bulls shot 50.6 percent and the Pistons struggled against dribble penetration in allowing 58 points in the paint.
Casey and Griffin were vocal in saying the Pistons have a lot of work to do.
But they will take the 2-0 start.
"A win is a win on the road," Casey said. "That was one of the challenges going into this year — to make sure we execute on the road.
"But in the game, we still have to do better, our decisions down the stretch have to get better."
Two Pistons return
After missing the opener against the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday night, Reggie Bullock (illness) and Stanley Johnson (foot) made their season debuts.
Bullock finished with 16 points in 29 minutes.
Johnson started the game 1-for-8 before scoring seven points in the fourth quarter to finish with 10 points in 29 minutes.
No Luke
Pistons fans on Twitter were in an uproar because 2017 first-round pick Luke Kennard did not play.
He wasn't hurt.
But veteran point guard Jose Calderon received four minutes in the first half.
"You just can't play 15 people," Casey said. "I wish we could, but we had a tight rotation. Reggie (Bullock) coming back, Stanley coming back, it took some of those minutes.
"Believe me, his time will come at some point."
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