The Pistons Were Stoked After Blake Griffin Stood Out In His Debut

The Blake Griffin Era started in Detroit on Thursday night, and everyone is excited. Andre Drummond hopes to create a “new empire” in Detroit with Griffin, and there’s certainly a renewed sense of optimism with Griffin in town for a Pistons team that hasn’t been able to keep up with the Eastern Conference over the past few seasons.

Griffin played well in his Pistons debut, putting up 24 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in a 104-102 win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Thursday night. Even Pistons owner Tom Gores appeared to be thrilled by the newest star in the Pistons rotation, as he seemed especially thrilled about seeing Griffin after the game.

But here’s Griffin’s first basket as a Piston, if you’re into that kind of thing. Griffin drove to the basket and got off a shot falling away from the basket that fell for his first of what Detroit basketball fans hope is many points for the big man in the Motor City.

The crowd in Detroit seemed pretty happy with Griffin, and his teammates certainly seemed happy to have him in Detroit. He was mobbed by his teammates with bottles of water after the game during an interview he was doing for the local Fox Sports affiliate.

Everyone seems pretty dang excited overall. Maybe this is the start of a new empire. Or maybe it’s just a single win. Either way, it seems like it would be reason enough to celebrate in Detroit on Thursday.