Print
RSS Feeds
E-News Sign Up
Share on FacebookMarch 18 -- Detroit entered Thursday night's matchup vs. New Jersey with the intention of fending off the Atlantic Division leaders for the second-best record in the East. The Pistons did just that, dominating the Nets 89-71 and making a statement against the team that swept them in last year's conference finals.
Larry Brown's bunch may have missed out on extending to six straight games its NBA record for holding an opponent to less than 70 points, but giving up a 71st point 1.1 seconds from a sixth straight win is pretty good consolation.
 B. Wallace |
 R. Wallace |
Here's a closer look at how the Pistons' defense has done it:
Field-goal percentage: The Houston Rockets lead the league in holding their opponents to a shooting percentage of just .404 -- and the NBA record for a single season is .402 by the 1998-99 Spurs -- but entering Thursday, the Pistons in their last five games obliterated that mark, holding the opposition to a microscopic .346.
And although they have excelled in pressuring these teams into low-percentage shots, in the cases of Seattle and Philadelphia, the Pistons significantly limited even their number of attempts:
TEAM FGM-FGA PCT. Portland 25-73 .342 Denver 26-81 .321 Seattle 23-59 .390 Chicago 25-81 .309 Philadelphia 25-64 .391 TOTAL 124-358 .346
One way Detroit accomplishes this is by playing a methodical and deliberate pace, limiting fast-break opportunities and open looks at the basket. These five teams averaged just 8.0 ppg off of fast breaks (Denver posted a high of 14), while a known running team like Dallas has averaged nearly twice that over its last five games (15.8 ppg).
Free throws: Not only have Detroit's opponents failed to make their shots, they're also not getting to the free throw line. The Toronto Raptors rank last in the NBA with only 20.3 free-throw attempts per game on the season -- over their last five games before Thursday, the Pistons have allowed an average of just 17.4. It's also helped that these teams haven't been able to hit their foul shots; their aggregate free-thow percentage of .713 would rank 28th in the league:
TEAM FTM-FTA PCT. Portland 11-14 .786 Denver 11-15 .733 Seattle 13-18 .722 Chicago 10-17 .588 Philadelphia 17-23 .739 TOTAL 62-87 .713
Assists and Turnovers: The Pistons' active defense has also simply harangued opponents into getting sloppy with their ball control. Again, for the sake of perspective, the Washington Wizards are last in the NBA in turnovers with 16.6 per game while Detroit's last five opponents prior to Thursday have averaged 17.2.
But that's only half of the story. Indeed, the Pistons are preventing baskets, but they are also preventing the passes that lead to baskets, allowing just 14.4 assists during this five-game stretch, four fewer than the Miami Heat's league-low of 18.6:
TEAM AST TO Portland 13 14 Denver 17 18 Seattle 11 18 Chicago 14 19 Philadelphia 17 17 AVERAGE 14.4 17.2
Absurdly, these numbers have resulted in an overall assist-to-turnover ratio of 0.84 for Detroit's opponents when no team in the league is even near the 1-to-1 mark; Washington ranks 29th in this category as well with 1.16 assists per turnover.
