The Detroit Pistons have won 10 of their last 12 games and are now only two games back from the Brooklyn Nets for the final playoff spot in the East. The team had a wretched start to the year, losing 23 of the first 28 games before waiving Josh Smith and starting to turn things around. A lot of factors have contributed to the surge, most notably the play of Andre Drummond and Greg Monroe once Smith left the team, and the adjustments coach Stan Van Gundy has made to the rotation.
Brandon Jennings has been on fire for the Pistons since Josh Smith was waived
Jennings looks like a different player since Josh Smith was traded and could get his career back on track after some bumpy years.
Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports
What continues to be an underrated aspect has been the much improved play of Brandon Jennings.
Jennings scored 37 points on just 23 shots to carry Detroit past the Pacers Friday, logging a career-high 8 three-pointers and going a perfect 9-for-9 from the free-throw line. On a night in which very few Pistons played well, Jennings accounted for more than one-third of the team's total 98 points.
Since Smith was waived, Jennings is averaging 21.6 points and 6.3 assists in 45.8 percent shooting from the field and a blistering 44.6 from beyond the arc. If held throughout the season, those are All-Star numbers and they represent a stark contrast against the 12.6 points on 36.8 percent shooting from the floor Jennings was averaging with Smith on the roster. He has had great stretches of play in the past and they haven’t been sustainable, but this time feels different, as he’s finally finding a balance between passing and scoring.
Jennings has traded some mid-range jumpers for three-pointers lately, which is usually a wise decision. He remains a very good shooter on catch-and-shoot situations and a decent option off the dribble. While he continues to struggle finishing around the rim, he typically draws the attention of a second defender thanks to his speed, allowing Detroit’s bigs to crash the offensive glass. The team averages a very high 29 percent offensive rebound rate with Jennings on the court, a mark that falls off significantly when he sits. The play that sealed the win for Detroit against the Pacers is a good example of Jennings’ indirect impact to offensive rebounding.
There was a time when Jennings was an electrifying young point guard who many thought had star potential. Over time his career took a turn for the worse and he became associated with bad shot selection, delusions of grandeur and, ultimately, losing basketball. At 25 years old, Jennings still has time to change that perception and he’s doing just that over the past few games. He’ll never reach the level some of his draftmates are at but he could still carve out a role as a good starting point guard who can win a handful of games on his own each season with scoring explosions like the one he had Friday.
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