On Monday, Isaiah Stewart made his official debut with the Detroit Pistons and left his mark in a limited outing during a 128-120 loss to the Atlanta Hawks.
Stewart recorded two points, eight rebounds and two assists in 14 minutes off the bench in a performance filled with plenty of high-effort and high energy plays on the court. Perhaps most impressive, five of his eight total rebounds came on the offensive glass alone.
The five offensive rebounds hauled in by Stewart are the most by a first-year player in a debut game since Jonas Valanciunas had six with the Toronto Raptors in 2012, according to Stathead. Stewart is now one of 31 players in history to record at least five offensive rebounds in a debut game.
Teammate Blake Griffin holds the record with nine offensive rebounds in a debut game.
Stewart found playing time on Monday after Pistons head coach Dwane Casey opted to rest Griffin on the first game of a road-home back-to-back. Though he only scored two points, Stewart made a strong case for more playing time based on his play.
Casey said after the game that the organization loves the energy Stewart plays with and is a huge reason why the team drafted him. Those comments certainly bode well for his chances at cracking the rotation on a consistent basis.
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