DETROIT — The absence of three members of the Detroit Pistons’ guard rotation due to injury changed the way they had to play basketball for the first few games of the season.
But the first of the three injured guards returned to the court as Caris LeVert rejoined the Pistons’ for a 135-116 win over the Orlando Magic Wednesday night.
“It feels good,” LeVert said postgame. “A little rusty, obviously, but it feels great to just go out there and compete in front of those fans, in front of that crowd. It was a good night for us.”
The 10-year NBA veteran signed with Detroit in the offseason and played sparingly during preseason. After logging 21 minutes in the season-opener last week, he missed the next three games due to a hamstring injury.
The Pistons (3-2) brought LeVert in as a versatile guard piece with more seasons in the league than nearly everyone on the roster.
He only got on the court for about 16 minutes against the Magic, being the first off the bench and used for stints of about three-to-five minutes mixing as a primary ball handler as well as trying to set up his threat as a perimeter shooter.
The rust that LeVert felt was shown at times, going 0-for-2 from deep and getting caught defending Paolo Banchero and allowing him a basket while fouling.
But he also had his own finish at the rim where he was fouled and set up an Ausar Thompson breakaway dunk in the first quarter. LeVert finished with four points, two assists and a rebound as a +6 by the time his night was over.
Getting back in the swing of things for LeVert isn’t a simple process given the amount of roles the Pistons seem to have planned for him to take on and still being in the process of learning all of his new teammates.
“His ability to be versatile and adaptable, it’s hard to play the way that he has to play right now,” coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “Those short minutes aren’t easy for a guy coming back.
“He’s able to do all the small things on both ends of the floor that impact winning. To his credit, he didn’t come back and try to force it. He came back and tried to help the team win and that’s the most important thing to him. The longer his stretches go, the more of an impact you’ll see from him.”
LeVert had to watch the last three games from the bench and while players can glean some things from watching games, LeVert says he’s always learned better through action.
The biggest thing for LeVert is getting more game-time reps to acclimate with the roster after logging his first victory as a contributor to the Pistons.
“This team has a lot of grit, a lot of toughness. I think everybody knows that,” LeVert said. “But I think we executed the game plan tonight almost to a tee, guarding those guys, making it tough on them all night. So that was a step in the right direction for us.”
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