The Detroit Pistons are walking away from the Summer League with a 1-4 record overall
For their final Summer League contest of the month, the Detroit Pistons took the court on Friday night hoping to end the tournament with a lion’s performance but instead had an effort that more resembled that of a lamb— for everyone except Ebuka Okorie, that is. But overall, the Pistons suffered a 101-87 loss to the Miami Heat for the fourth defeat of the Summer League stanza.
In his fifth matchup as a professional, first-round pick Okorie was aggressive from the start of the game onward, and he made it a point to show off a diverse bag of tricks against the Heat. After one half of play, Okorie had already amassed 15 points, and he did so by connecting on a couple tough baskets once in the paint, a long three-pointer and also a steal that he turned into a fast break slam. Although his pace slightly dropped off in the second half, Okorie finished with 27 points, four rebounds and three assists, which was his high-water mark from a scoring standpoint in the Summer League.
But on the flip side, if there was one element of his game that could be improved, Okorie had a bit of difficulty once he made his way to the rim. Now, Okorie had no trouble in actually reaching that point in the first place as he looked both explosive and agile, but the former Stanford point guard left a few points on the table and blew a couple field goal attempts that generally should go through the rim. Overall, Okorie went 9-for-20 from the field, so the rookie was relatively efficient with such a high-volume workload on Friday night.
Apart from his performance, Detroit’s Brice Williams started the game well with nine points in the first quarter as the Pistons staked out a two-point lead, but his scoring pace cooled off through the rest of the game before he was eventually ejected from the contest. Mid-way through, Williams picked up a flagrant foul that put him on thin ice for the rest of the contest, then the sharp-shooter added a technical foul that sealed his fate later on in the fourth quarter. At first, Williams traded a few words with a Heat opponent that looked somewhat innocuous, but the referee obviously had a different interpretation of the interaction. Williams finished the game with 15 points and five rebounds.
Much like Williams, Isaac Jones started off the game strong before tapering off in the second half. After one quarter of play, Jones accounted for six points and four rebounds, so it seemed as if the big man was on pace for another double-double performance after registering 18 points and 10 rebounds in the team’s fourth Summer League game. However, the Washington State product only added two more rebounds to his first quarter production, so another double-double was not in the cards for Jones after all.
Even though the Pistons finished with a record well below the standard they would have liked at 1-4, the team can draw upon a few positives, such as Chaz Lanier’s laser-like three-point shooting, Okorie’s overall flashes as a scorer and Williams’ similar rhythm from long-range. Detroit has several aspects that they can build upon heading into training camp, and that shouldn’t get lost in the aftermath of last night’s defeat.
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