LET'S FUCKING GO!!!!! I said before this was going to test the character and toughness of this team, especially two specific players, and I'm beyond proud of how they answered the call and responded!
Hat's off to KAT! He played his heart out and just dominated after that embarrassing game two. Displayed his entire arsenal and great job by Thibs and Cap for making some adjustments and getting him the ball! Loved how we make the effort to find him as a trailer on those threes! And of course, they got nobody who can guard him one on one. That baseline fadeaway was huge! He also had one of his best games defensively, including that clutch block on Cunningham late in the game that led to the Cap's layup! But the highlight for me was KAT having Mitch's back and shoving Paul Reed! That's exactly what we needed! DO NOT GET PUNKED!!
Hat's off to Bridges too! Played an all around game and was everywhere defensively! 7 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 blocks! My only complaint was him not showing more dawg in him when he got into it with Hardaway Jr. and also he didn't say anything when Schroder did his celebration. But it is what it is and he's not a dawg. That's fine as long as he plays well and he was outstanding last night!
The Cap was Captain Clutch once again. Made all the big shots down the stretch (10 points in final 5 minutes) but it was weird seeing him get the Trae Young treatment but kudos to the Pistons crowd cause that's what a road playoff game should sound like! Cap had a much better game as a facilitator with 9 assists and only 1 turnover. OG was also fantastic! Bounced back defensively and made it difficult again for Cunningham forcing him into tough midrange shots. Cunningham shot 10/25 which you take every single time! Hart was everywhere. His motor was insane! Almost ended up with another triple double 6/11/9.
Bench was meh once again. Deuce continues to struggle but Payne bounced back and provided a spark in the 2nd. Mitch wasn't great and lost some rebounds and Shamet was a donut once again. I wonder if Thibs is thinking of giving Wright a chance over Shamet. I would.
Thibs had a good game. Team was ready and prepared and never panicked when Pistons made their run and got it close late. Loved the adjustment to get KAT the ball! The team was also more focused and didn't spend half the game arguing with the zebras. Team shot 26/29 from the line!
I was going to give the zebras their kudos too cause I thought they called it tight but fair but that end of the game with the shot clock malfunction giving the Pistons a chance to tie or win the game was bull****! I was petrified and thought something crazy was going to happen but thankfully that dummy Bickerstaff had Duren as the inbound passer.
4/24/2025 11:16 PM
