NBA moments: Drummond, Reggie, and a remarkable fourth quarter

The stats and the scenes from Portland told the story on Sunday night.

The Detroit Pistons’ greatest win in the state of Oregon was their Game 5 triumph in the 1990 NBA Finals, which clinched a second straight world championship.

Sunday night’s game, in the first weeks of a new season, won’t acquire earth-shattering significance… but it will be remembered for a long time just the same.

Andre Drummond went for 29 and 27.

Reggie Jackson uncorked a 40-burger.

The Pistons slapped a 24-0 run on the Trail Blazers in a 41-11 fourth quarter.

Here’s how #NBATwitter reacted:

That’s a very small sampling of the reaction to what Andre Drummond and Reggie Jackson did in one quarter on Sunday.

We are quickly brought in touch with a whole host of intriguing questions. They start with the smaller and simpler ones:

“Is Drummond an All-Star?” (Answer: HECK YES!)

They branch out to the bigger ones:

“Are the Pistons likely to make the playoffs?” (Answer: Extremely likely.)

The temptation will be to answer the biggest questions in the affirmative:

“Is Detroit an East contender (defined either as 53-win material or top-five caliber)?”

“Is Drummond on his way to becoming a generationally great big man?”

It’s much too early to answer either one of those questions, especially the second.

However, the mere fact that those questions possess at least some legitimacy — i.e., that you can ask them and not be laughed out of a room — is a statement in itself.

DEEEEEE-TROIT BASKET-BALLLLLL will remain a central conversation piece in this NBA season.

Being able to say that on November 9 comes as a bit of a shock… just ask the Portland Trail Blazers, who are still wondering what the license plate number was on the truck which destroyed them in one furious fourth quarter.

About Matt Zemek

Editor, @TrojansWire | CFB writer since 2001 |

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