DETROIT — The big man had the defense at his mercy, backpedaling and baffled, unsure of the trickery he’d pull on this trip.



He had just snared a defensive rebound in the middle of the paint, and as he started up the court his mix of size, shooting, ball-handling and passing made him a lethal weapon, a point-forward with a rare ability to make you pick your poison.



Four dribbles were all he needed to get from the lane to the top of the opposite 3-point arc, where he stopped and gave a subtle but sound shot fake that forced his defender to close the distance. In one motion, he then threaded a left-handed bounce pass into the post. But it was just out of the reach of its intended target.



And when the ball bounced harmlessly out of bounds, Blake Griffin knew exactly what Lauri Markkanen had done wrong.



“If he waits, like, a second and is a little bit more patient, that play’s going to develop for him,” Griffin told The...