Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups acquired an enormous ovation on his return to Detroit. But it surely was the son of a distinct Corridor of Fame level guard who received the sport for the Pistons.
Tim Hardaway Jr. made three three-pointers and scored 11 factors within the fourth quarter because the Pistons erased a 22-point deficit to beat the Blazers, 118-115. Hardaway Jr., whose father made the Corridor of Fame two years earlier than Billups in 2022, completed with 26 factors because the Pistons received their fourth straight recreation.
It was a exceptional efficiency by Hardaway Jr. due to his scoring explosion, together with 6-for-9 taking pictures from three-point vary. But it surely was additionally memorable as a result of he logged nearly no different field rating stats. Hardaway Jr. had no assists, grabbed zero rebounds, did not shoot free throws, block a shot or get a steal. The lone non-scoring statistic was a single private foul. Shooters shoot!
Hardaway Jr. and the Pistons ruined an excellent clutch efficiency by Portland’s Anfernee Simons, who had 17 factors within the last quarter and 36 for the sport.
The one participant who had a surprisingly quiet fourth quarter was Detroit’s Cade Cunningham, who shot 0-of-5 and scored two factors. Cunningham did his work early, placing up 30 factors within the first three quarters after scoring 40 factors towards the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday.
The Pistons are 7-1 of their final eight video games, bringing their file as much as .500. In these video games, Cunningham is averaging 26.4 factors and eight.6 assists. Hardaway Jr. is averaging solely 13.9 factors in that very same stretch, however he is taking pictures 42.9 p.c on threes, plus a whopping 1.4 rebounds and 1.4 assists.
Billups, who received a title with the Pistons in 2004, acquired a standing ovation on the Detroit Lions-Minnesota Vikings recreation Sunday evening. He acquired one other ovation earlier than Monday’s recreation and a tribute at halftime to have a good time his Corridor of Fame induction.
Nonetheless, he’d in all probability sacrifice all of the adulation if it meant Hardaway Jr. would have missed only one extra of his fourth-quarter pictures. Monday evening, Hardaway Jr. was Mr. Large Shot.
