Detroit Pistons: 3 takeaways from 2018-19 season opener

2. The Big 3 can work together

Detroit’s top three players on the marquee were the team’s top three performers on Wednesday.

After All-Star power forward Blake Griffin joined the Pistons last season, he, All-Star center Andre Drummond and point guard Reggie Jackson only played a combined 44 minutes together due to Griffin and Jackson being in and out with injuries.

Going into this season, Casey identified the aforementioned trio as the Pistons’ own Big 3, the foundation for the immediate future of the franchise. They were the most talented and, not coincidentally, highest-paid men on the roster.

In the season opener, they played up to those expectations.

Griffin led the team with 26 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Drummond had 24 points and 20 rebounds. Jackson finished with 19 points and four assists. The Big 3 took 58 of Detroit’s 92 field goal attempts (63 percent) and the only other Piston to score in double figures was backup point guard Ish Smith, who added 11 points.

The Pistons did struggle in some key moments to get a shot off, committing back-to-back shot clock violations late in the fourth quarter. That could be evidence of a group that is still sorting out its hierarchy.

Overall though, this was a night that promised better things to come.