Reggie Jackson and the Pistons officially eliminated the Washington Wizards from the playoffs with a 112-99 victory on Friday night. The Pistons used the same formula countless teams have used throughout the season to make Washington in a shell of the team that won playoff series in each of the past two years.
The Pistons put the Wizards in a bind early by making their first six three-point attempts en route to a 39 point first quarter. The Wizards had an answer in the second quarter as Ramon Sessions took advantage of an older and slower Steve Blake. But even then, Washington was only able to cut the lead down to 7 by halftime.
Markieff Morris caught fire in the third quarter, scoring 20 by himself in the quarter, but the Pistons made sure he wasn't getting the rest of the team involved, keeping him from tallying an assist all game long.
Once Morris returned to earth, all the Detroit had to do was not make mistakes, and trust Reggie Jackson would be able to get the shots he wanted, much like every other star player has been able to do in clutch moments, and close the final chapter on a disappointing season that saw Washington repeat the same mistakes over and over again.
The WIzards lost 112-99. There will be no playoff basketball this year for the Wizards.
Morris steps up in the third quarter
As noted earlier, Morris took 20 shots in this one and didn't record a single assist. Certainly, you could quibble with his inability to get others involved when he took over in the third quarter, but given how the Wizards were struggling at the time, Washington really just needed someone to do something.
If nothing else, it was very satisfying to see Morris handle the burden of being a primary scoring option better than others have at points this season, earning five free throws and going 7-11 from the field, including this halfcourt heave. He finished with 20 points in the quarter.
.@Keefmorris from WAY downtown! #WizPistons pic.twitter.com/NhJpQYTXkV
— Washington Wizards (@WashWizards) April 9, 2016
Detroit gets hot from three-point range
The Pistons went 14 of 32 from three-point range tonight including 7-9 in the first quarter. Tobias Harris, Wizards Killer nominee, knocked down his first three three-pointers while Reggie Jackson also connected on his first three three-pointers. The Pistons spread the wealth as six players knocked down three-pointers against Washington, who ranks 28th in three-point defense.
Gortat comes through on one end of the floor
Marcin Gortat always plays well against Andre Drummond and the Pistons. Between the challenge of going against one of the best centers in the NBA, and the coach who kept him in a very limited role early in his career, Gortat always has plenty of motivation to play well against Detroit.
Defensively, he held his own. He held Drummond to 3-10 shooting from the field and only allowed 1 offensive rebound. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to assert himself as well on the other end. He had to create his own shot more often without Wall there to set him up with good looks, and it messed with his efficiency. He was only 4-9 from the field.
Wizards have no answer for Reggie Jackson
Reggie Jackson was terrific tonight, scoring 39 points on 14-20 shooting to go along with his nine assists. Sessions, Beal, and Temple all took turns guarding Jackson tonight but none of them could slow him down. He burned them for three (4-5) when Wizards defenders went under the screens and would drive to the hole when Wizards' defenders went over the screens. John Wall might have slowed him down a bit but overall, it was just a great all-around performance from Jackson.
Just gonna leave this here
Stan Van Gundy just called out the Wizards' out-of-bounds play step by step.
— Jorge Castillo (@jorgeccastillo) April 9, 2016