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 Morris, obtained in a July deal with Phoenix, made himself so
valuable that Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy hates to take him out of
games. The fifth-year small forward rewarded Van Gundy again Friday
with another strong performance, providing 23 points, four rebounds,
three assists and a steal in Detroit's 102-95 victory over the
Milwaukee Bucks at The Palace.
"Marcus can do a lot of things," said Van Gundy, who doubles as the
team's president of basketball operations and made the trade. "I've
got to create more and more things for him. He's a darn good passer,
too. We're really fortunate to have him. We thought he was good when
we got him and he's better than I thought he was."
Morris ranks in the top five in the league in minutes played after
being a part-time starter for the Suns. He's averaging career highs
in points (14.8), rebounds (6.3), assists (2.1) and steals (1.4) for
the Pistons (11-9), who won their third straight.
"It's the first time I've really gotten to play this many minutes,
to be able to make mistakes and be able to play through it," Morris
said. "That's definitely a major help for me."
Van Gundy wants Morris to play an even bigger role offensively and
Morris is eager for the challenge.
"When I first came here, a lot of people didn't know I could really
pass the ball," he said. "That's where (Van Gundy's) confidence goes
up with me because I'm trying to make the right plays."
Pistons point guard Reggie Jackson also scored 23 points and center
Andre Drummond supplied 17 points and 23 rebounds. Power forward
Ersan Ilyasova added 13 points and eight rebounds against his former
team.
Drummond has five games with 20 or more rebounds this season. The
rest of the league combined had three entering Friday.
The Pistons never trailed but needed to make 19 of 22 free throws in
the fourth to secure the win. They had only 10 turnovers, while
forcing 15 that led to 25 of their points.
"We did a great job of making free throws and we handled the ball
well against their pressure," Van Gundy said.
Small forward Khris Middleton's 21 points led the Bucks (7-13), who
have lost five of their last six. Former Pistons center Greg Monroe
chipped in 14 points and 13 rebounds in his first game at The Palace
since signing with Milwaukee during the offseason.
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"I just think we kind of hit a drought," Monroe said of his team's
outing. "I think we were playing pretty well defensively but we keep
hitting droughts in games and we have to get out of that."
Bucks point guard Jerryd Bayless sprained his left ankle when he
stepped on Jackson's foot during the third quarter. He did not
return.
The Pistons led by as much as 14 in the second half.
Middleton's 3-pointer with 4:23 remaining cut the Pistons' lead to
77-72. Ilyasova fired in an open 3-pointer with 1:36 left to push
Detroit's lead up to 89-80.
Middleton hit another three in the final minute to make it 95-90.
But the Bucks couldn't get any closer.
Detroit finished the first half on an 11-2 run to lead 51-40 at
halftime.
"We didn't end the first half of the right note," Bucks coach Jason
Kidd said. "They made their run. This is something that's happened
to us before. It's a six-point game and it goes back up. We were
just playing from behind and we couldn't get enough stops."
NOTES: Milwaukee SG Greivis Vasquez missed his fourth consecutive
game with right ankle soreness and PG Tyler Ennis sat out with a
shoulder injury. ... The Bucks won the last four meetings, including
a 109-88 blowout in Milwaukee last month. ... Pistons C Andre
Drummond had 17 of his team's 23 double-doubles. ... Detroit coach
Stan Van Gundy has no regrets allowing current Bucks C Greg Monroe
to walk in free agency because Drummond's development made him
expendable. Monroe, who played his first five seasons in Detroit,
signed a three-year, $50 million free agent contract with Milwaukee.
"The issue that wouldn't go away is that in the long run, were we
going to pay huge money for two centers?" Van Gundy said. "It's
probably the best move to go the way we did."
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