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Nets’ Kevin Durant ejected from game for shoving Pistons’ Kelly Olynyk

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Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant was ejected on Sunday night in the third quarter in Brooklyn’s 117-91 (box score) win over the Detroit Pistons. The ejection came after Durant shoved Pistons big man Kelly Olynyk while he was setting a screen, and after review of the play, officials determined it was a Flagrant 2 foul which is an automatic ejection. 

Here is the play where the shove happened:

When asked after the game if he thought the Flagrant 2 was warranted, Brooklyn head coach Steve Nash declined to comment on it. This ejection comes just a day after Durant was fined $25,000 by the league for throwing a basketball in the stands during the Nets game on Friday night. He wasn’t ejected for that, however when the league announced the fine it said he should have been tossed from the game. After being ejected on Sunday night, Durant will be assessed another fine from the league, this time it will be $2,000.

At the time of Durant’s ejection, the Nets were already ahead comfortably by 17 points, so they didn’t necessarily need him for the remainder of the game, as James Harden carried the team down the stretch as they went on to beat the Pistons 117-91. Still, it’s never ideal for your best player to be unavailable for the remainder of the game, regardless of how big the lead is. 

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Knicks’ Reggie Bullock dominates against Pistons

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Reggie Bullock went back to his old stomping grounds to turn in his best performance of the season.

The Knicks’ 3-and-D wing lived up to his billing Saturday night as he poured in a season-high 22 points in the 125-81 win over the Pistons in Detroit.

“Reggie was terrific,” coach Tom Thibodeau said.

Bullock, who had established himself as a starter and legitimate 3-point threat with the Pistons from 2015-2019, shot 8-for-12 from the field and 6-for-10 from beyond the arc. He teamed with Julius Randle to score 28 of the Knicks’ first 30 points as they put an end to their three-game losing streak in emphatic fashion.

“Obviously, I played [in Detroit] for four years, but give credit to my teammates, give praise to Jules,” Bullock said. “He definitely got me involved. I tried to space for him, set screens, get people off of him and just space.

“He’s been doing a great job all year finding shooters, finding perimeter players to be able to put the ball in the hole. I came out today and shots were falling for me, so I just kept shooting.”

Reggie Bullock
NBAE via Getty Images

Thibodeau said before the game he only planned to use Norvel Pelle on a “situational” basis after the center signed a 10-day contract on Friday night. But fourth-quarter garbage time proved to be the right time for Pelle, who had an adventurous three minutes.

The shot-blocking big man, signed for depth after Mitchell Robinson broke his foot on March 27, appeared to dislocate his right index finger while going up for an alley-oop late in the fourth quarter.

But he popped it back in before hitting a free throw and then registering two blocks on the ensuing defensive possession. Pelle added three rebounds.

“Our scouts really liked him,” Thibodeau said before the game.

Killian Hayes, the Pistons’ No. 7-overall pick who had been on the Knicks’ radar before November’s draft, returned from a labral hip tear that had kept him out since Jan. 4. He played 20 minutes, but was held scoreless, with three assists and five rebounds.

In the lead-up to the draft, the Knicks originally had Hayes as the top point guard on their board, outside of LaMelo Ball, before learning of his preexisting hip issue, The Post’s Marc Berman reported. But the Knicks ultimately landed Obi Toppin with the No. 8 pick after the Pistons passed on him to draft Hayes with the seventh pick.

Toppin scored eight points Saturday after delivering a jolt off the bench in Friday’s loss.

“I really like the way he’s been playing,” Thibodeau said.

Derrick Rose required attention after getting bloodied above his left eye on a drive to the rim early in the second quarter. But he remained in the game and finished with seven points in 21 minutes. … The Knicks got all 15 players on their roster into the game.

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Thunder and Pistons Kick Off NBA Trade Season

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Trade season is now upon is with the Detroit Pistons and Oklahoma City Thunder delivering first deal, two weeks out from the March 25 deadline. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported the trade, which will send Thunder wing Hamidou Diallo to the Pistons for forward Svi Mykhailiuk and a 2027 second-round pick.

Crowned the 2019 NBA All Star Slam Dunk Contest champion, Diallo is currently in his third season after being drafted with the 45th pick in 2018.

He is averaging 11.9 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.4 assists this season, now taking his talents to Motown where he will be reunited with former Thunder teammate Jerami Grant.

The Thunder pick up another draft asset and Ukranian-born Mykhailiuk who will suit up for is third team in as many years, initially drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers at pick 47 — two slots after Diallo – in 2018.

Mykhailiuk is putting up averages of 6.9 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.6 assists this season.



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Blake Griffin agrees to contract buyout with Pistons; Nets are favorites to sign him, per report

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Blake Griffin’s playing days with the Detroit Pistons are now over. On Friday, the six-time All-Star agreed to a contract buyout with the Pistons, the team announced. Griffin, 31, will now be an unrestricted free agent and will be able to sign with any team. Several top contenders are interested in adding Griffin for the playoff push, but the Nets are the favorites to sign him, per The Athletic’s Shams Charania. 

The former No. 1 overall pick hasn’t suited up for the Pistons since Feb. 12, as both sides agreed that he would remain out of the lineup until the team facilitated a trade for him or they agreed to a buyout. The Pistons are in the midst of a rebuild, while Griffin wants to have the opportunity to compete for a championship at this point in his career. “I am grateful to the Pistons for understanding what I want to accomplish in my career and for working together on the best path forward,” Griffin said in a statement last month. 

Though they tried, the Pistons were ultimately unable to find a trade partner for Griffin due to the sheer size of his contract, which included a player option worth nearly $39 million for next season before the buyout. As part of his buyout agreement, Griffin agreed to give back $13.3 million in salary, per Charania. 

At this point in his career, Griffin is just clearly not the player that he once was. Griffin was once an athletic high flyer, but injury issues have taken a toll. Now he’s been largely relegated to the role of floor spacer, as over half of his field-goal attempts per game this season have come from beyond the arc. He’s averaging a career-low 12.3 points per game while shooting just 36 percent from the floor on the season, and he’s also pulling in just 5.2 rebounds per performance.  

The Pistons couldn’t find a team willing to take on the remainder of Griffin’s contract, but now that he’s headed for free agency Griffin will have several suitors. The Brooklyn Nets, Miami Heat, Golden State Warriors, Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers are among the teams that have already expressed interest in Griffin, according to Marc Stein of The New York Times.

Griffin was traded to Detroit from the Los Angeles Clippers in January of 2018 and he made the All-Star team as a member of the Pistons during the 2018-19 season. However, injury issues held him to just 38 total appearances over the past two seasons. While he’s not the 20-point and 10-rebound per game player that he once was, Griffin could still be productive for stretches, and he could potentially provide a nice bench boost for a contending team. 

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Blake Griffin a free agent after Pistons buyout

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Blake Griffin will be free to sign with the Nets or another interested NBA team after agreeing to a contract buyout with the Detroit Pistons.

The Nets are “believed to be [the] leaders” to add Griffin, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweeted, adding “rival teams with interest are expecting Griffin to choose [Brooklyn] as a title favorite for chance to win a championship.”

The Lakers, Heat, Warriors and Clippers – his former team — are among those that have also expressed interest, according to the New York Times.

The 31-year-old Griffin hasn’t played since Feb. 12 while the Pistons attempted to trade him before the March 25 deadline, but they found no takers due to the remainder of his $36.6 million salary for this season and the $39 million he’s owed for 2021-22.

The Nets have won 10 of their last 11 games to enter the All-Star break with the second-best record in the Eastern Conference (24-13), a half-game behind Philadelphia.

Kevin Durant has missed the past nine games with a hamstring injury, and Steve Nash mostly has employed a smaller lineup with 6-4 Bruce Brown playing power forward.

Durant will sit out Sunday’s All-Star Game, but the Nets still will be represented by guards Kyrie Irving and James Harden.

Blake Griffin was released by the Pistons on March 5, 2021
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After Griffin clears waivers on Sunday, the Nets could use their mid-level exception (around $5.6 million) to sign him as frontcourt depth behind Durant and DeAndre Jordan, a former teammate with the Clippers. Griffin also worked out with Durant over the summer in Los Angeles.

Griffin is averaging a career-low 12.3 points and 5.2 rebounds in 20 games this season. He was dealt by the Clippers to Detroit in 2018, during the first season of a five-year extension worth $171 million.



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Blake Griffin, Pistons agree to buyout

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Blake Griffin and the Detroit Pistons agreed to a contract buyout, making the six-time All-Star an unrestricted free agent, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported Friday.

Griffin has attracted interest from most of the league’s top playoff contenders, per ESPN. He’ll talk with the perspective teams before making a decision, per the report.

Griffin awaited trade, release since February

He had $36.6 million remaining on his contract this season and $39 million in 2021-22 before the buyout agreement, making it it a difficult trade for the Pistons to make. Griffin, 31, has been out of the Pistons lineup since Feb. 15 while the team worked on a trade or the eventual buyout. The trade deadline is March 25.

Griffin thanked the Pistons for “understanding what I want to accomplish in my career.” The star wants to play for a title and was traded to Detroit in 2017 after seven full seasons with the Los Angeles Clippers. He had signed a five-year, $171 million deal with the team the offseason prior to his trade. Detroit is currently looking to rebuild and develop younger talent under first-year manager Troy Weaver.

Griffin has returned from numerous surgeries and developed other parts of his game, but still fights his body. He hasn’t had a dunk since December 2019 before he underwent left knee surgery.

Prior to the benching, Griffin was averaging 12.3 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.9 assists for the Pistons. Over his career he’s averaged 21.4 points, 8.7 rebounds and 4.4 percent. He’s a career 49.5 percent shooter.

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Knicks 109, Pistons 90: Scenes from a tired Knicks team getting the job done with gusto

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At the stroke of midnight, it’ll be March, the time of year where Knicks fans are usually glued to tankathon.com while waiting for another season to mercifully end. This year, however, Knicks fans will wake tomorrow to a team currently in fourth place in the Eastern Conference at 18-17. Sure, the NBA schedule has been pushed back, but we’re above .500 after 35 games for the first time in eight years.

Sunday’s contest with the lowly Detroit Pistons reeked of a trap game, with the Knicks on the second night of a back-to-back following a 48-minute war with the Pacers one night earlier. The first half was butt-ugly, though the good guys walked away with a 48-37 advantage thanks to some timely three-point shooting.

In recent weeks, this club has struggled coming out of halftime. That was not the case Sunday, however, as Julius Randle and RJ Barrett dominated the Pistons while the Knicks stretched their lead past 20 points.

Julius toyed with the Pistons in the second half, canning jab-step jumpers like prime Melo.

Coming into tonight, I thought RJ Barrett would be a big key for the Knicks, as the one pair of young legs in the starting lineup. He certainly stepped up for the Knicks, with 21 points on 8-13 shooting.

Let’s also give some credit to Nerlens Noel, who was a beast yet again, playing huge minutes with Taj Gibson out.

I’ll say it again: We’re above .500 folks. Recap to come.

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Detroit Pistons rookie Saben Lee lights up Orlando Magic in win

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Detroit Pistons coach Dwane Casey talks Feb. 21, 2021, about Saben Lee’s impressive play and poise vs. the Orlando Magic.

Detroit Free Press

Detroit Pistons rookie Saben Lee was the team’s best offensive player once again on Tuesday, and this time it was coupled with a win.

The Pistons defeated the Orlando Magic, 105-93, behind another strong performance by Lee. The two-way guard led all players with a career-high 21 points while converting eight of his 11 shot attempts, including all three of his 3-pointers. Before Tuesday, he hadn’t made a 3-pointer in two attempts. 

Lee (12 points and five assists) was a bright spot for the Pistons on Sunday, despite a loss to Orlando.

The win Tuesday snapped a three-game losing streak for the Pistons. Josh Jackson added 18 points off of the bench, and Jerami Grant had 17 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Nikola Vucevic led the Magic with 20 points. 

Career nights for Smith and Lee

With Delon Wright and Killian Hayes nursing injuries, Dennis Smith Jr. and Saben Lee are the only healthy point guards on the roster. Smith received the start on Sunday, but Lee ended up having the stronger performance. On Tuesday, both players thrived. 

Smith, after going scoreless Sunday, got off to a hot start against Orlando the second time around. He scored seven points in the first quarter and resumed his momentum when he checked after halftime, hitting a tough fallaway mid-range shot over Vucevic and a 3-pointer not long after. He was aggressive and efficient, having his best outing in a Pistons uniform with a season-high 14 points on 6-for-9 shooting and a pair of blocks. 

As effective as Smith played, Lee had the stronger performance once again. Lee, the No. 38th pick overall in last year’s draft added four assists, three rebounds and two steals to his 21 points. He appears be adapting well to the NBA’s pace and, for the second straight game, did a great job attacking the rim and creating open shots for his teammates. He was more involved as a scorer compared to Sunday, converting a number of difficult looks near the rim.

Both Smith and Lee looked deserving of the starting job on Tuesday, but Lee is surpassing expectations as a second-round draft pick. He’s made 11 of his 17 shot attempts this week and may be ready for a large role sooner than expected. 

Mykhailiuk gets first start of season 

The Pistons opted to rest Wayne Ellington on Tuesday. They followed the advice of their medical staff, Casey said before the game, and it created an opportunity for some of Detroit’s bench players to receive more minutes. 

Mykhailiuk’s third season has been marred by inconsistency, and he entered the game shooting 37.2% overall and 32.3% from 3-point range — both declines from last season. His ongoing shooting slump has made it difficult for him to carve out a consistent role in the rotation. 

With Ellington out, Casey inserted Mykhailiuk into the starting lineup for the first time this season. He had nine points, three rebounds and three assists in 22 minutes. While he didn’t snap his slump in missing four of his five 3-point attempts, he made some nice passes and did a good job finishing at the rim. It’s unclear if Ellington will miss additional time, but it could open more opportunities for Mykhailiuk to get back on track.

Contact Omari Sankofa II at osankofa@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @omarisankofa. The Free Press has started a new digital subscription model. Here’s how you can gain access to our most exclusive Pistons content. Read more on the Detroit Pistons and sign up for our Pistons newsletter.



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Brooklyn Nets coach Steve Nash says Feb. 9 loss to Detroit Pistons spurred ‘rededication’

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Ten days ago, a brutal loss to the Detroit Pistons forced the Brooklyn Nets to refocus. Since then, the Nets have been a riding a wave of wins, the latest a 109-98 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night.

Brooklyn has taken a step toward solving its defensive puzzle and is in the midst of a five-game win streak.

“That [Detroit loss] was a low for us, and it did provoke some conversations and kind of a rededication to what we’re trying to do,” Nets coach Steve Nash said. “I’m proud of the way they responded since then, obviously we’ve taken care of business.”

The Nets’ 122-111 loss to Detroit on Feb. 9 was ugly. But after allowing the Pistons to shoot 56% from the field in that game — the highest field goal percentage they’ve allowed in a game this season — Brooklyn has tightened up defensively. The Nets’ five consecutive wins mark their longest win streak of the season.

“It’s about time we turn the corner defensively,” Irving said with a smile. “No team is gonna win anything in this league if they don’t get stops. It’s about time. And we heard them loud and clear in the last few games.”

In the 13 games the Nets played in from January 16 to Feb. 9, the Nets contested 85.5% of shots in the paint, according to Second Spectrum tracking. That ranked 28th in the NBA. Against the Pistons on Feb. 9, Brooklyn contested just 78.6% of shots in the paint, their second-worst shooting percentage in any game since acquiring star guard James Harden in a mid-January trade.

But since Feb. 10, the Nets are contesting 91.1% of shots in the paint — the sixth-highest rate in the NBA.

“I think after our game against Detroit, obviously it was a game in which we struggled really badly on the defensive end and it was sort of, not a breaking point, but it just happened pretty repeatedly up to that point,” Joe Harris said. “I think after that game just the level of focus, the attention to detail and the intensity on the defensive end has really ramped up.”

Brooklyn has kept opponents to under 100 points three times since the Harden trade, and two of those instances have come in their past five games — including against the Lakers. On the other side of the ball, Brooklyn shot 18-of-39 from 3-point range Thursday and is now shooting a league-high 42% from beyond the arc since Harden joined the team.

Irving finished with 16 points against the Lakers. Harris added 21 points, and James Harden had 23 points and 11 assists.

“It is scary out there when other teams are doing their best to stay in the game defensively and we continue to compound more offensive execution,” Irving said.

He added: “We know that this doesn’t happen often where you get a great collection of guys together that have been prominent guys in their roles on their respective teams and you’ve got guys coming off the bench that are starters for other teams.”

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Blake Griffin to Be Held Out by Pistons amid Trade, Contract Buyout Rumors | Bleacher Report

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Michael Dwyer/Associated Press

The Blake Griffin era in Detroit appears to be over. 

Both Griffin and the team announced Monday that the veteran forward would be held out of the lineup going forward, with ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reporting that “the Pistons will continue to pursue trade scenarios involving Griffin, and talks on a contract buyout with his agent Sam Goldfeder of Excel Sports could eventually come into focus.”

Pistons general manager Troy Weaver told Woj:

“After extensive conversation with Blake’s representatives, it has been determined that we will begin working to facilitate a resolution regarding his future with the team that maximizes the interests of both parties. We respect all the effort Blake has put forth in Detroit and his career and will work to achieve a positive outcome for all involved.”

Griffin added in a statement: “I am grateful to the Pistons for understanding what I want to accomplish in my career and for working together on the best path forward.” 

Trading the 31-year-old will be tough. Generally when aging stars—or former stars, depending on whether you think Griffin’s struggles this year are a rough patch or his new normal—have huge contracts like Griffin, teams trying to deal them are able to make two types of moves:

  • Deal him for another player with an equally large and prohibitive contract. Think the Russell Westbrook-for-John Wall swap. 
  • Deal him to a team with salary-cap space to absorb the player’s large contract. Generally, you also part with some assets like young players or draft picks in such a deal.  

Both scenarios will be difficult for the Pistons to make work. The former is tricky for two reasons. One, Griffin is really struggling this year, averaging just 12.3 points and 5.2 rebounds per game while shooting 36.5 percent from the field. He wasn’t much better last year, posting 15.5 points and 4.7 rebounds per game while shooting an abysmal 35.2 percent from the field.  

It’s hard to market Griffin as a star at this point. A string of injuries have simply turned him into a shell of his former self, which included five All-Star Game appearances in his first six seasons. Maybe a new environment gets more out of him, but the Pistons aren’t going to get a major return for him based on his play. 

It gets even harder to deal him when you take into account his $36.5 million contract for this season or the $38.9 million player option for next year he’ll absolutely exercise. Even if you could find a player-for-player fit in a trade—let’s say the San Antonio Spurs wanted to move off the struggling LaMarcus Aldridge (14.1 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 47.6 FG percentage) and were willing to roll the dice on Griffin, hoping he was able to work his way closer to his previous form—matching the money would be tricky.

Aldridge, for instance, is making $24 million this season. San Antonio would have to throw another player into the deal to make the money work. But most teams likely see Griffin as a negative asset given the contract-to-production ratio you’re getting back.

Westbrook, for instance, averaged 27.2 points a season ago. The biggest concern with the 30-year-old Wall was that he was returning from an injury-lost season and might have lost some of his burst. He was still playing at a high level before that injury.

But the Pistons likely aren’t going to be interested in giving up assets to get off Griffin’s contract, either. They’re in a rebuild. If anything, they’d likely prefer to be the team getting assets in exchange for using cap space to absorb bad contracts in the short term.  

Given Griffin’s declining game and huge contract, the Pistons’ task is equivalent to trying to fire proton torpedoes in an exhaust port. First-year general manager Troy Weaver is going to need some serious Jedi mind tricks on this one, especially considering the buyout route isn’t ideal unless Griffin is willing to slash a huge portion of his salary. 

It seems unlikely Griffin will want to throw away that much money. It seems just as unlikely the Pistons will want to dispose of that much money without getting anything back in return. And if nothing else, the looming possibility of a buyout lessens Detroit’s leverage in trade talks. If Griffin might just become a free agent on the buyout market, why not wait it out?

It’s a tough situation for the Pistons and Griffin, but one they are now committed to figuring out after Monday’s news.



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