Given everything that befell them a season ago, the best thing to come out of preseason for the Pistons was not getting anyone hurt.
Oh, there were bright spots – the four rookies drafted last month all look like they can play and new general manager Troy Weaver found a nice mix of veterans among his dizzying spree of trades and free-agent signings, from all appearances. At the other end of the spectrum, there are clearly a list of items still to be ironed out, most notably a turnover spree that saw the Pistons average 21.5 a game over their preseason, which ended Saturday with a 99-96 loss at Washington.
But coming out of preseason with everyone ready for Wednesday’s regular-season opener is the headline.
And that starts with the two most decorated Pistons, Blake Griffin and Derrick Rose, who also happen to have the most entries on their career injury resume. If there was a silver lining to the nine-month absence from NBA games the Pistons endured amid the COVID-19 pandemic, it was giving Griffin and Rose all that time to recharge their bodies and come into the season primed for their best basketball.
It’s clear how Casey will use them, too, as he stuck with the same lineup and same basic rotation blueprint throughout the preseason. Griffin will anchor the starting unit, Rose will function similarly for the bench unit and they’ll join forces to close out games that hang in the balance.
Given their star power plus the depth and versatility Weaver’s radical roster makeover provided, the Pistons figure to play a number of games that come down to the final five minutes, too. Now they just have to give themselves more of a chance to capitalize on those opportunities by cutting down on their turnovers.
That was the bugaboo of preseason and so it was again on Saturday night when the Pistons committed 21 turnovers that Washington converted into 25 points.
“The most important thing for us is taking care of the ball,” Casey said. “The second half we had five turnovers. We shot ourselves in the foot (in the first half). We’ve got to be smart. Yes, we want to play fast and play at a pace, but not a pace that’s going to run to our death.”
The Pistons got back in the game in the second half – Russell Westbrook made his debut in a Wizards uniform but didn’t play after halftime, leaving with Washington up 14 – and tied the game at 89 in the fourth quarter but never led. Washington got back-to-back threes from Jerome Robinson and Troy Brown and hung on as the Pistons finished with a 2-2 preseason record.
Svi Mykhailiuk ticked off the contributing factors to rash of turnovers the Pistons committed in the preseason.
“New guys – we’re trying to make some tough passes and we’re still learning each other,” he said. “We didn’t play for almost a year. We’re learning. We’re getting better and I feel like we’ll get better when the season starts.”
Casey let Killian Hayes, the 6-foot-5 point guard drafted seventh overall, finish the tight game and play alongside Rose for the first time this preseason. Hayes finished with 11 points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals and – perhaps most notably – only one of the team’s 21 turnovers in his 21 minutes. Since committing seven turnovers in his debut, Hayes has turned it over just five times in the past three games.
“The first game was just me getting back into it,” Hayes said. “I felt like against New York, I was just doing what the defense wanted me to do – playing in a hurry. I think I did a better job of playing at my pace, at my rhythm.”
Rose and Jerami Grant led the Pistons with 14 points each. Josh Jackson played his third straight strong game, contributing 13 points and eight rebounds.
The Pistons get a few more practices ahead of Wednesday’s regular-season opener at Minnesota to work out the kinks on offense, but Casey has consistently praised the focus and intensity of a team still in the getting-to-know-you phase.
“We made some bad decisions, didn’t execute certain things down the stretch,” he said. “But the fight, the grit we showed to get back in the game – it started with our defense first and second taking care of the basketball. We had five turnovers the entire second half. That gave us opportunities even if we missed a shot.”