FAST BREAKDOWN
Three quick observations from Wednesday night’s 116-111 loss to the Indiana Pacers at Bankers Life Fieldhouse
WELCOME BACK – After missing four games with a hip injury, veteran Wayne Ellington returned and didn’t miss a beat. Ellington came on late in the first quarter with the Pistons 1 of 7 from the 3-point line and hit two triples in two tries before the quarter was out. Ellington’s stints were somewhat limited due to his time away, but he made his 23 minutes count: 16 points, hitting 6 of 7 shots, including 4 of 5 from the 3-point arc. Ellington is the Pistons player around whom has swirled the most speculation regarding the trade deadline, which comes at 3 p.m. Thursday. With 3-point shooting at a premium, it’s expected that Ellington will generate interest from any team looking to punch up its perimeter shooting. Without Ellington, the Pistons saw their 3-point attempts fall from 35.2 to 27 a game. Even if their accuracy wasn’t much affected, going from 34.6 to 34.2 percent in Ellington’s absence, the reduction in attempts and the lack of his perimeter threat – and the corresponding spacing it created – had a broader impact on the Pistons offense. In the four games Ellington missed, the Pistons went 2-2 but in their two losses they failed to crack 100 points and shot just 11 of 50 from the 3-point line in those games. They finished 11 of 28 from three at Indiana, but nine first-half turnovers were worth 15 points to Indiana and fueled a 36-point second quarter for the Pacers when the Pistons turned it over six times for 13 points. The Pistons fell behind by 10 points early in the third quarter but came back to take a two-point lead midway through the fourth quarter. After an Indiana turnover, the Pistons got the ball back trailing by two points with 34 seconds left but Delon Wright got caught under the basket with no one to pass to and turned it back over with 28 seconds left. Caris LeVert, who led the Pacers with 28 points, clinched the win with a triple with 4.7 seconds left. Jerami Grant led the Pistons with 29 points.
STEWART SURGE – The Pistons have been impressed with rookie Isaiah Stewart from day one, but the rest of the NBA is probably taking more notice of him of late as he’s becoming a more versatile scorer – and a deadly efficient one, too. Over his previous 12 games coming into Indiana, Stewart had averaged 8.4 points and 6.9 rebounds a game while making 66.2 percent of his shots. It was more of the same against the Pacers as Stewart, 19, finished with 11 points and seven rebounds in 19 minutes and hit 5 of 7 shots. Dwane Casey said before the game that he hopes to find spots where he can use Stewart at both frontcourt positions. “At some point, hopefully, we can use Isaiah interchangeably at the four and five, offensively and defensively. I think that will be a plus for our team that he can go out on the floor and hopefully be consistent with his 3-point shooting and defend some fours.” The other Pistons first-round rookie, Saddiq Bey, had a strong game, as well, finishing with 16 points and hitting 4 of 10 triples.
BACKCOURT PUZZLE – With Wayne Ellington’s return couple with Dwane Casey’s desire to get more minutes for his point guards, Casey had to get a little creative with his lineup combinations to piece lineups together. Delon Wright started at point guard and was replaced by Dennis Smith Jr. late in the first quarter and then returned to the game as the shooting guard alongside the third point guard Casey utilized, rookie Saben Lee. Frank Jackson again was the starter at shooting guard but Ellington and then Wright also played at that spot. Josh Jackson’s minutes came primarily at small forward to accommodate the use of three point guards and Wright playing both backcourt positions. Casey bypassed Lee in the second-half rotation. Power forward Tyler Cook, playing on a 10-day contract, contributed five points and two rebounds while playing the first eight minutes of the fourth quarter.