After picking up a big win, Duncan Robinson shared some details on his knee injury
After Duncan Robinson exited Thursday’s two-point loss to the Dallas Mavericks in the second half, the sharp shooter made his triumphant return to the Pistons’ starting lineup last night against the Hornets.
In his first season with the Pistons, Robinson has earned the favor of Detroit head coach J.B. Bickerstaff as a trusted member of the squad. Robinson has started in every game that he’s been healthy for so far– which has been the majority of the season– and the eight-year pro has been a mainstay in the rotation the entire time.
So, as soon as Bickerstaff could insert Robinson’s lethal perimeter shooting back into the lineup, he took that opportunity. Playing at home against the Hornets, Robinson logged 15 points, three rebounds and one assist, and he was predictably reliable from long-range. Robinson finished the comfortable win with a 4-for-9 mark from behind the arc as he accounted for 67% of the team’s three-point scoring on the night.
“I'm feeling all right,” Robinson said after the victory. “Thankfully, Thursday was not serious. Obviously, I was a little spooked when it happened, but yeah, thankfully not too bad. It was fun to be back out. I try to, if I feel like I can get up and down, I always try to be available.”
Robinson’s mere presence out on the perimeter has a certain gravity to it, and he helps keep the defense honest when Detroit opts to spread the floor. As Robinson has grown accustomed to the way the Pistons do business, he’s learned where he fits into the squad as Detroit’s strengths begin to shine even more clearly. Those strong points were evident once again on Saturday night against the Hornets.
“Usually it's our defense just getting stops that really helps us because it also gets us out in transition, and that's when we can be our most impactful,” Robinson said. “So, I felt that we just held the line. You know, good teams are gonna make runs, and they made some shots, made some plays, but we held the line, which was important.”
In that respect, the Pistons totaled 16 steals and blocked 10 shots on the night as Detroit’s frenetic defense ran rampant on the visiting Charlotte squad. In particular, Pistons forward Ausar Thompson did his best to put LaMelo Ball through the ringer all night long. Ball initially got off to a quick start with eight points in the first quarter, but that is when Thompson began to dig in and truly put the clamps on Charlotte’s primary playmaker. By the time Ball fouled out in the second half, he still only had eight points thanks to Thompson’s handy work of four blocks and three steals.
“They're a talented team,” Robinson said. “They’ve got a lot of good players. We were flying around, making multiple efforts. I thought we had stretches where we were really good from an effort standpoint in execution. It's just about time to get in effort and execution all the time. So, I thought we took a good step tonight in that regard, though.”
Robinson’s mentality with that answer underpins why the Pistons have been so successful this season. A matchup at home against the Charlotte Hornets, who entered the game well below .500, could be seen as a trap game. But instead of taking the Hornets lightly, Robinson and the Pistons came out with the type of intensity that will be required to contend for a conference championship– and potentially an NBA Championship– by season’s end.
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