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 Booed during pregame introductions and when he touched the ball
early in the game, the former Sun had 20 points in 39 minutes and
the last word after the Pistons won for the fourth time in five
games, 100-92 over the Suns on Friday.
Detroit is 4-1 for the first time since the 2008-09 season, the last
time the Pistons made the playoffs.
Outspoken about the way he was used and critical of Phoenix fans
during his time as a Sun, Morris said he was "disrespected" when he
was not informed he would be separated from twin brother Markieff in
an off-season trade with the Pistons.
Friday morning, he said was surprised that the Suns hadn't granted
his brother's trade request before the season.
Marcus said he expected the booing but chided the Suns fans for not
putting more into the effort.
"Everybody heard it, but it wasn't (expletive). It was light,"
Marcus said. "If Detroit was booing somebody, it would have been way
better. They don't even know why they're booing ... it was trash. I
thought it would have been a little better than that.
"I definitely wanted to beat them at home, but I've put it behind
me. I'm a Piston, man, I don't even think about Phoenix anymore. I'm
here to stay. I enjoy my coaches and I enjoy my teammates and we're
trying to get off to a great start and continue to win."
Detroit guard Reggie Jackson had 14 of his 23 points in the fourth
quarter and eight straight points down the stretch when Phoenix made
its bid to win. The Suns rallied from 11 points down -- using the
ploy to force Detroit center Andre Drummond to shoot free throws --
and pulled to within 88-85 on a 3-pointer by guard Eric Bledsoe with
2:10 left.
Drummond had 12 points and 17 rebounds in the game, but missed 11 of
13 free throws.
But Jackson converted a 3-point play with 1:47 left to restore the
lead to six, hit two free throws on the next trip down and added the
exclamation point with a 27-foot 3-point bomb with 1:08 to go to
make it 96-86 Detroit.
"He was tremendous. He made big shots down the stretch and that was
huge," Detroit coach Stan Van Gundy said. "He makes a runner for a
3-point play, gets to the rim for free throws and hit the 3. You
can't have it much better than that.
Guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had 11 of his 18 points in the first
quarter for the Pistons, and hit a huge 3-pointer of his with the
clock running down to restore the Detroit lead to 85-76 with 4:07
left.
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Bledsoe and guard Brandon Knight had 22 points each for the Suns,
and Markieff Morris finished with 18 points on 9-for-21 shooting.
The Suns shot 40 percent from the field and never led after a 14-2
Detroit run midway through the first period.
"For me, I missed a lot of open shots, (Knight) and (Bledsoe) also,"
Markieff said. "For the most part, we're the go-to guys on the team.
We need to score every night for us to win. We missed a lot of shots
we normally make and they did a great job of capitalizing off it."
The Pistons missed their first eight shots of the game. But once the
Pistons found the basket, the Suns lost track.
"They do a great job of getting back and lining up on defense,"
Bledsoe said. "We cut the lead down, but they made some tough shots
and it's something we have to live with."
NOTES: The game featured the top two rebounding teams in the NBA,
with Detroit and C Andre Drummond leading the league at 53.5 boards
per game while the Suns and C Tyson Chandler were right behind at
50.4 ... Marcus Morris stirred the pot at Friday's shootaround
saying he was surprised the Suns didn't comply with his brother
Markieff's trade requests and that he is still unhappy in Phoenix.
"He doesn't look happy," Marcus said. "I know him ... he just
doesn't look comfortable. He don't look too excited." ... In the
first five games, G Eric Bledsoe and G Brandon Knight each scored
more than 17 points in the three Phoenix wins, and both scored less
than 17 points in the two losses. ... Drummond's 78 total rebounds
in the first four games are the most since Dennis Rodman had 83 for
the San Antonio Spurs four games in the 1993-94 season.
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