The Pistons will both end the regular season and begin the postseason in Cleveland. Whether they’ll have Reggie Jackson for either became the more pressing issue than Tuesday’s loss to Miami in the home finale that cemented their first-round playoff matchup with the Cavaliers.
Jackson felt a twinge in his abdominal wall while going through Tuesday morning’s shootaround, but nobody expected it to keep him out of the home finale against Miami. But when he went out for his typical pregame workout about 90 minutes before the game, the discomfort was still present.
“Got a little worse when I got here and unfortunately couldn’t go tonight,” he said after the 99-93 loss to a Heat team playing for a chance to get home-court advantage in the first round. “Going to go ahead and take care of it. We did some treatment today and just getting ready to be ready, hopefully for tomorrow and then going forward.”
“I guess it was bothering him this morning, but I didn’t think it was a big deal,” Stan Van Gundy said. “When he came in tonight, he went out and they checked him when he was warming up and he was hurting. He’s got an abdominal strain. He’s day to day. We don’t think it will affect his readiness for the playoffs. We’ll see.”
Since Tobias Harris moved into the starting lineup the last time the Pistons played at Cleveland, they were 16-8 going into Tuesday’s game. And a consistent theme over that significant chunk of the season has been less dependency on Jackson’s scoring. But on a night when Harris and Marcus Morris, especially, had trouble getting the ball in the basket from anywhere but point-blank range, Jackson’s ability to break down defenses and penetrate was sorely missed.
It clearly emboldened Miami to be aggressive in their perimeter defense, knowing shot-blocker Hassan Whiteside was protecting the rim and not having Jackson to worry about, either.
“Really stayed home on us on the perimeter,” Van Gundy said. “Basically invited us to drive the ball and make plays and weren’t able to do it.”
Morris, Harris and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope finished the first half 7 of 26. Throw in Andre Drummond and the four starters aside from Steve Blake were 8 of 32 in the half. Yet the Pistons got there in a 50-all tie, having the advantage in points off turnovers 12-6. But when they became just as turnover prone as Miami after that – in fact, they finished with 16, one more than the Heat – their offensive issues intensified.
“It was a rough one for us,” Harris said. “I thought defensively we had some good plays, got a lot of 50-50 balls. We played really solid on that end, but offensively we just couldn’t get the ball in the basket. Myself, there were a lot of looks I had that felt good, looked good, just didn’t fall.”
The offensive malaise never really lifted, but Miami wasn’t doing much more on its end, either. The game was essentially won on a hot fourth quarter from a guy who’s been one of the best streak scorers of his generation, Joe Johnson. In just six fourth-quarter minutes, Johnson drained six shots – half of them 3-pointers, the other three all contested mid-range jump shots – for 15 of his 25 points.
“It was a tough cover for anybody,” Van Gundy said. “He played great. He finished us off. For most of the night, the problem was our offense – 16 turnovers, inability to make shots. They got into us and defended us. We just didn’t play well offensively at all.”
“He’s a great scorer, can get it going,” Harris said. “He hit a lot of tough shots, got some open looks. Fourth quarter, we were making a good push but they just kept capitalizing, making shots, when we really needed stops. He’s just tough.”
Given Indiana’s win over a Knicks team that rested Carmelo Anthony despite no postseason ahead, the Pistons would have needed to beat not only Miami but win at Cleveland and hope for an Indiana loss at Milwaukee to alter their first-round pairing with Cleveland. Locking in the opponent a day early will at least give Van Gundy and his staff more time to focus on the Cavaliers.
And that’s OK with the Pistons.
“I feel comfortable. It’s where we’re at,” Harris said of facing the Cavaliers. “We’ve got to embrace that challenge. They’re a great team that presents a lot of great attributes out there and great players. They play well together for us. We’ve got to be on our A game, but we’ve got to have a great focus going into the playoffs and we just have to be really ready.”
“I love it,” Jackson said of the playoff matchup. “World’s not picking us, anyway. They’re supposed to be the title contenders from the East, so if we’re not favored anyway, we might as well get our crack at ’em. David may not have wanted to fight Goliath, but I don’t want to fight Goliath’s little brother. I want to go fight Goliath. I think that’s how this locker room feels.”
Well, sure. As long as they get to fight Goliath with the point guard who led them to the playoffs.