DETROIT — The players don’t want to say it. It’s better to avoid being disrespectful to the competition, but they’re all thinking it.
A loss in the NBA is fine, but nobody wants to be the team that the Detroit Pistons beat.
The Pistons are on a near-historic losing streak and are overwhelmingly the worst team in the NBA this season. Heading into Thursday’s game against the Utah Jazz, the Pistons had lost 24 straight games.
The Jazz did not want to be the team that the basement-dwelling Pistons were able to conquer, so it was not very welcome news that this is what the injury report looked like:
- Jordan Clarkson was out (hamstring).
- Lauri Markkanen would not be playing on the second night of a back-to-back while managing his recent hamstring injury.
- Keyonte George (left foot soreness) would remain sidelined.
- Ömer Yurtseven is still sick and not with the team.
- On top of everything else, Talen Horton-Tucker (left foot soreness) would miss Thursday’s game.
But have no fear, Kelly Olynyk is here.
The 11-year veteran scored a team-high 27 points to lead the shorthanded Jazz past the Pistons in Detroit.
“That’s as many times as I think I’ve ever seen Kelly shoot,” Jazz head coach Will Hardy joked after the game.
Actually, he’s not far off.
Olynyk took 16 shots on Thursday. It was the first time this season that he’s had double-digit field goal attempts and it was just the second time he’s taken 16 shots as a member of the Jazz (he did it once last season in a loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Feb. 15).
“I knew we had a bunch of guys out and were gonna need some offensive punch,” Olynyk said. “I was trying to be aggressive right from the start.”
Olynyk was more than just aggressive though. He was orchestrating the entire offense. He directed traffic and was a playmaker, dishing out six assists, while also being a force on the defensive end, grabbing four steals and setting the tone for everyone else.
“For a guy that’s usually pass-first and will turn down open looks at times to try to get his teammates involved, I thought that he was really aggressive,” Hardy said.
“He did a good job of recognizing how he was being guarded. There were plenty of times where he had the ball and their team, understanding that he is generally a playmaker, fanned out to our other players and it left Kelly in some situations where he could play a little bit of one on one.”
The Pistons didn’t let the Jazz get off easy. As a team desperate to get a win and seeing the depleted Jazz roster as a great opportunity for that, they stayed close throughout most of the game.
That being said, Olynyk had a lot of help on Thursday night, with five other Jazz players scoring in double-digits.
It was a great team win for the Jazz and it was validating for many of the bench players who were asked to do more than they normally are.
But even for Olynyk, who has accepted an abbreviated role with this Jazz team, it was good to see that he is capable of more if called upon.
“It’s a different role on this team when you’re 11 years in the league,” Olynyk said with a laugh in his walk-off interview. “It’s a fluid role and you’ve got to kind of read the room and see what they need.”
On Thursday, it was Olynyk whom the Jazz needed and it was Olynyk who showed up in a big way.