A win is a win. It wasn’t impressive or convincing, but Washington and Danny Avdia scored tonight (between Tuesday and Wednesday) important 117:119 over Detroit on the road thanks to a decisive basket by Daniel Gafford at the buzzer. Avdia came off the bench and in 21 minutes was satisfied with 7 points (2 from 2 from the field, 1 from 1 from three, 2 from 2 from the penalty), 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 turnovers and 4 fouls. Watch his moves in the video player above.
Precisely after scoring 17 points against Milwaukee, and precisely against the Eastern lock, Avdia recorded a very lukewarm performance. The Israeli didn’t take a single shot in the entire second half and ended his personal evening with a lot of nerves when he committed three fouls in 37 seconds (after getting hit in the face and not getting a whistle) and got off the floor for the deciding minutes. To his delight, his teammates did the job, went up to a 34:31 balance and opened a gap of two games from Chicago in tenth place in the East.
On the decisive possession of the game, which came after a turnover by Isaiah Liebers, Wes Anseld Jr. went to Bradley Beal (32 points, 14 of 21 from the field, 7 rebounds, 7 assists), but his hot star’s shot did not even touch the ring. The Pistons’ defense was dreaming and Gafford was in the right place and at the right time to score from close range at the buzzer and set up a dramatic victory that snapped the two-game losing streak.
Avdia’s only two field baskets came near the end of the first and second quarters. The young forward got on the board for the first time with a dunk in a burst and then sniped a three-pointer from the corner. The guest trailed 58:53 at the break, but Beal provided a good third quarter that gave his team a point advantage heading into the last 12 minutes. Jaden Ivey put Detroit up 115-117 with 50.0 seconds left, but tied the game before Gafford had the final say.
Kristaps Porzingis assisted with 24 and Kyle Kuzma and Corey Kispert contributed 23 and 16 points respectively, while the hero of the evening Gafford recorded 8 points. For the Pistons, who dropped to 51:15 (25:8 at home) with their ninth straight loss, Ivey impressed with 26 points, 12 assists and 5 rebounds, and James Wiseman, the second pick in the Abadiah draft, scored 21 (10 of 13 from the field ). In less than 24 hours Avdia and his team will host Atlanta.
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