Stringing together enough defensive stops to leave a 13-point halftime deficit completely extinguished, the Detroit Pistons perhaps knew that the opportunity to “go for the jugular” and steal momentum entirely stood just one end-of-quarter sequence away. Always capable of fulfilling the dirty work along the defensive end, Isaiah Stewart gets the ball rolling, rotating over to send Cody Martin’s once-promising one-handed jam in the opposite direction. With control of the game at their side, and 18,866 cheering fans at their backs, Stewart’s teammates quickly parlayed the rejected dunk into a throwdown of their own, a boost that ultimately guided victory. In creating plays comparable to those in the early-2000s, “Dee-troit basketball” era, Stewart again reaffirmed his status as a top-tier rim protector. Beyond the box score in terms of his on-court influence, Stewart chipped in five points, seven rebounds, one steal, two blocks, and a triple on January 3, 2025. · Jan 4, 2025