True Blue Pistons

Keith Langlois

Three quick observations from Monday night’s 111-105 loss to the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center

DOWN TO THE WIRE – No matter how brilliantly devised the game plan might be, it pretty much goes out the window when the other team starts the game making its first four shots, you miss your first four and it’s 10-0 before the game is three minutes old. Or so you might think. But the Pistons tied Dallas at 13 by the midway point of the quarter, took a lead soon after and played from in front for much of the middle chunk of the game and by as many as 11 points midway through the third quarter. The Pistons led by one going in the fourth quarter, but were outscored 9-2 – with MVP candidate Luka Doncic on the bench – to open the quarter and fall behind by six points. They never caught up, though the game went down to the final minute with Doncic’s jumper with 42 seconds left, bouncing high off the rim before falling, to give Dallas a four-point lead more or less the clincher when the Pistons failed to get a call as Bojan Bogdanovic – who led the Pistons with 29 points – was bumped in the corner as he launched a 3-point shot.

The Pistons swept one half of the 2022 Western Conference finals bracket, Golden State, but couldn’t complete the sweep of the other half, Dallas, losing to the Mavericks to close out January. The Pistons also swept Minnesota from the Western Conference and they now have a record of 8-16 against the West as opposed to 5-23 vs. the East.

GROUP EFFORT – Luka Doncic was questionable for Dallas after missing time with a sprained ankle, but you would be excused for not knowing there was anything wrong with him if you hadn’t seen that news. Doncic scored 24 of Dallas’ 30 first-quarter points on his way to 53 points despite the Pistons throwing a variety of looks and multiple defenders at him. Alec Burks started the game as Doncic’s primary defender, followed by Isaiah Livers and then Bojan Bogdanovic, though the Pistons frequently double-teamed Doncic out past the 3-point line to get him to give up the basketball.  Doncic hit 7 of 8 shots, 4 of 5 3-pointers and 6 of 8 free throws in his brilliant first quarter. He scored only three in the second quarter, when he played the final six minutes, then came back with 18 more in the third quarter and followed up with eight after checking back into the game with 5:50 left. Doncic attempted 18 foul shots in a game that saw 60 free throws taken, 27 by the Pistons. Detroit and Dallas came into the game 1-2 in the NBA in free throw attempts. Livers had only recently moved into the starting lineup when he was injured while defending Doncic in the Dec. 1 overtime win by the Pistons at Little Caesars Arena. He picked up his fourth foul in the final minute of the first half and didn’t spend as much time in the second half on Doncic. The Pistons lost both of their young guards, Jaden Ivey and Killian Hayes, to fouls in the fourth quarter and ended the game with Burks as the point guard.

A MAN SHORT – One player unavailable to Dwane Casey who surely would have been part of the mix against Luka Doncic was Hamidou Diallo, who’s been playing as well as anyone on the roster over the last month. Diallo missed the game with a non-COVID illness. The Pistons were also without Cory Joseph, who continues to be bothered with lower back soreness, in addition to the longer-term injuries to Cade Cunningham and Marvin Bagley III. Casey went with a four-man bench consisting of Isaiah Livers, Killian Hayes, Isaiah Stewart and Kevin Knox. Diallo was coming off a 15-point, five-steal game against Houston on Saturday. He’s third in the NBA in field-goal percentage for players with at least 75 attempts, hitting 69.1 percent of his shot attempts. There’s a 19.5-point spread in Diallo’s on-off numbers since Christmas, the Pistons outscoring opponents by 5.3 points per 100 possessions with Diallo on the floor and being outscored by 14.2 points per 100 when he sits.

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Pistons put up a fight in Dallas, but Doncic’s 53 carries the day

Three quick observations from Saturday night’s 117-114 loss to the Houston Rockets at Little Caesars Arena

TOO MANY CHANCES – At least until May 16 – the date of the NBA draft lottery – that one’s going to sting. The Pistons lost to the only team in the NBA with a worse record, the 11-38 Houston Rockets, and in so doing they gave new meaning to give the other team too many second chances. If the Pistons came into Saturday’s game thinking the opportunity was ripe to win back to back games for the second time this season, Houston was no doubt thinking it had a shot to win for only the second time in its last 17 games. The Pistons looked like they were well on their way to following up Thursday’s rousing win at Brooklyn despite a 40-point burst from Kyrie Irving with a thumping of the Rockets when they spurted to a 16-4 lead. But the Rockets used offensive rebounding and Pistons turnovers to get back in the game, take a two-point halftime lead and expand it to 12 midway through the third quarter. The Pistons used a 20-4 run to regain the lead before the quarter ended and the game went back and forth in the fourth quarter when Houston, which was 3 of 20 from the 3-point line through three quarters, made five of its first six 3-pointers so surge back into the lead. Houston used a four-point possession – a basket from Kenyon Martin Jr., a missed free throw, and an offensive rebound and put back with 31 seconds left – to take a one-point lead. Alec Burks scored 21 for the Pistons, hitting 6 of 11 from the 3-point arc including 3 of 3 in the fourth quarter. His triple with 1:53 left put them ahead 111-109. But Houston went ahead on its four-point possession with 31 seconds to go. Jaden Ivey (16 points) had a chance to send the game to overtime with a clean look, but his triple from the top of the arc bounced off. Houston finished with 16 offensive rebounds for 21 second-chance points; the Pistons had just four such points.

HAMI’S HEATER – It wasn’t that long ago that Hamidou Diallo couldn’t find his way onto the floor. Diallo was out of the rotation for five games in mid-December, but since Christmas he’s arguably been the team’s most consistent player. In fact, Diallo’s on-off numbers since Christmas are eyebrow-raising: With him on the court, the Pistons are a plus 3.1 points per 100 possessions and with Diallo on the bench the Pistons are minus 13.4. Diallo has shot 70.6 percent from the field in January with averages of 12.5 points and 4.8 rebounds in 22 minutes a game. Dwane Casey has consistently praised Diallo’s hustle and the contagious energy he brings, which was put into action when Casey went to Diallo with six minutes left in the third quarter as the Pistons had seen a two-half halftime deficit swell to 12 points – subbing out leading scorer Bojan Bogdanovic much earlier than usual in the process. Less than a minute after entering the game, Diallo gave the Pistons a spark with a steal converted into a three-point play after converting a transition layup. The Pistons outscored Houston 22-7 over the last six minutes of the quarter after Diallo’s insertion to take a three-point lead into the fourth quarter. Diallo led the Pistons in plus/minus at plus 16 in his 19 minutes and finished with 15 points and five steals.

SEARCHING FOR SCORING – Dwane Casey’s new starting lineup, featuring Alec Burks, was designed to provide some stability for a unit that includes two rookies, Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren. The game is robbing a second unit that’s ranked among the NBA’s most prolific of its scoring anchor. Casey expanded the rotation to 10 on Saturday with Kevin Knox joining the mix, but the second unit consisting of Knox, Isaiah Livers, Isaiah Stewart, Killian Hayes and Hamidou Diallo was short on proven shooters and consistent scorers. That group was on the floor late in the first quarter and early in the second when Houston forced its way back into the game. Knox drained his only two shots of the first half, both triples, and finished with six points and five rebounds in seven minutes when Casey tightened the rotation to nine in the second half. The Pistons bench unit that had risen from 28th&nbsp;in NBA scoring without Burks to first with him managed to cobble together 40 points without him led by Diallo’s 15. Hayes added eight points and seven rebounds. Casey tinkered with his substitution pattern in the second half to lessen the time the second unit was without a veteran scorer on the floor.

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Pistons give Houston too many second chances in loss to Rockets

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Pistons Playback 01-26-23 Nets

Three quick observations from Thursday night’s 130-122 win over the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center

BOUNCING BACK – In the game after the Pistons gave up a season-worst 49 points in a quarter, they scored a season-best 43 points in Thursday’s third quarter. And after one of their most dispiriting losses of the season, they bounced back in Brooklyn for one of their most uplifting wins. It was a perfect storm in Monday’s loss, the Pistons clearly out of the normal rhythm of the season with a cross-Atlantic trip thrown into the middle of January and facing a Milwaukee team buoyed by the returns of its two best players. The Pistons did it with one of their most balanced scoring distributions of the season, too. They had seven players hit double figures before scoring leader Bojan Bogdanovic, who finished with 11 points after scoring two on 1 of 7 shooting in the first half. His free throws with 20 seconds left sealed the win. Saddiq Bey scored 15 of his 25 points in the third quarter, recovering from a slow start. The Pistons led by three after a strong first quarter, sparked by Jaden Ivey scoring all of their first 12 points on 4 of 4 shooting and 3 of 3 free throws in the first four minutes, and trailed by one at halftime before their 43-point third quarter. Ivey and Killian Hayes both finished with 16 points and Ivey’s eight assists led the Pistons.

CHANGING UP – Alec Burks made his first start of the season, a move that allowed Dwane Casey a little easier time in keeping a point guard on the floor for 48 minutes on a night that Killian Hayes returned and Cory Joseph was out. Hayes missed Monday’s loss to Milwaukee after suffering a shoulder contusion late in last week’s Paris game vs. Chicago but was back Thursday. Joseph, though, was ruled out with back soreness. Burks, averaging 13.3 points and shooting a career-best .436 from the 3-point line, scored an extraordinarily efficient 20 points: He hit 6 of 9 shots, 3 of 4 from the 3-point arc and 5 of 6 free throws. He also had four rebounds and five assists in 30 minutes.

Burks also had the supreme challenge of guarding Kyrie Irving, voted an All-Star starter when results were revealed Thursday prior to tipoff, though it was hardly a one-man blueprint. Irving’s 40 points led Brooklyn. Isaiah Livers, after one game as a starter, came off the bench in Brooklyn perhaps in part because he was considered a game-time decision after turning an ankle in Monday’s game. He also took some time guarding Irving and he made some key defensive hustle plays during the second half.

1-2 PUNCH – The Pistons haven’t had more than one big man available for several games and several more with only two fit to play. Isaiah Stewart has been in and out of the lineup with left shoulder soreness but he returned at Brooklyn after missing Monday’s game with Milwaukee, though Dwane Casey chose to bring him off the bench and keep rookie Jalen Duren in the starting lineup. Duren, who missed five games earlier this month with an ankle injury, finished with 17 points and seven rebounds. Five of his seven buckets, layups or dunks, were set up by nice feeds from fellow rookie Jaden Ivey but credit Duren for his ability to make tough catches in traffic and convert without getting stripped. Stewart finished with 11 points and five rebounds in 20 minutes. The Pistons didn’t play their two young big men together at any point in Thursday’s game. Nerlens Noel did not play but was available.

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Pistons bounce back to clip Nets as 8 hit double figures

Three quick observations from Monday night’s 150-130 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks at Little Caesars Arena

OVER EARLY – The combination of Milwaukee boosted by the returns of two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and three-time All-Star Khris Middleton from injury and the Pistons apparently dealing with a Paris trip malaise proved toxic in a one-sided fight that saw Milwaukee dominate the Pistons. It was effectively over when Dwane Casey had to call two timeouts in the game’s first five minutes, at which point the Bucks led 28-8. Milwaukee matched the 40 points that had been the first-quarter high for a Pistons opponent this season with 3:56 still to play on a 3-pointer from Antetokounmpo to give him 20 points. They went past the previous high of 72 points in a first half by a Pistons opponent with 3;25 left in the second quarter on a Bobby Portis triple. The Bucks hit 100 with five minutes left in the third quarter and went past the previous high of 147 scored by Philadelphia on Jan. 10 with 1:56 to play. They tore past the previous high for threes made against the Pistons this season (20, Utah) by hitting 23 and also established a new high with 53 3-point tries against the Pistons. Antetokounmpo finished with 29 points and 12 rebounds after missing five games. Middleton, playing in only his eighth game this season, scored eight points in 15 minutes off the bench. Bojan Bogdnovic scored 33 points in three quarters before shutting it down for the night. He hit 11 of 15 shots, 6 of 7 from the 3-point arc and all five of his foul shots in 28 tidy minutes.&nbsp;

ROOKIE RAVES – If you want to focus on something positive, take the strides Jalen Duren and Jaden Ivey have made in a few specific areas. With Duren, look At the area of free-throw shooting and project that to what it might say about his offensive potential down the road. Duren, who hit 4 of 4, made just 10 of 29 free throws in the first month-plus of his rookie season, but since then he’s 36 of 50 of 72 percent.

Duren has spent hours with Pistons development chief John Beilein, whose ability to improve shooting has long been widely acknowledged. Duren’s an adept ballhandler growing into a proficient dribble handoff facilitator and has been lauded by Dwane Casey for his advanced screening techniques as a rookie. Duren recorded his rookie-best 10th&nbsp;double-double, finishing with a personal scoring best of 23 points to go with 14 rebounds on 9 of 13 shooting. Ivey, who had to shoulder more playmaking duties than anticipated with the loss of Cade Cunningham, had the ball in his hands even more against Milwaukee as Killian Hayes missed the game with a left shoulder contusion suffered late in last week’s game in Paris. Ivey tied his previous high of nine assists midway through the third quarter and set a new high upon re-entering the game in the fourth quarter. He finished with 11 assists to go with 12 points.

ODE TO BOB – The Pistons dedicated the night to honoring the memory of Bob Lanier, the player they took with the No. 1 draft pick in 1970 – the last top overall pick the Pistons would have until winning the 2021 lottery and drafting Cade Cunningham. Lanier, who died in May at 73, was a 1992 inductee into the Hall of Fame. He played his entire 15-year NBA career with the Pistons and Bucks, playing in seven All-Star games during his nine full seasons with the Pistons and one more during his time in Milwaukee. Lanier averaged 22.7 points and 11.8 rebounds with the Pistons and still ranks third in Pistons career scoring behind Isiah Thomas and Joe Dumars and third in rebounds behind Bill Laimbeer and Andre Drummond. He’s also fourth in blocked shots despite the fact it wasn’t an official statistic until his fourth season. The Pistons had taped messages from Dave Bing, Isiah Thomas, George Blaha and Rick Mahorn in each of the game’s four quarters play on the video boards and staged a halftime ceremony with a moving tribute voiced by Blaha. Several members of Lanier’s family were in attendance for the tribute and introduced to the crowd while escorted by ex-Pistons Ben Wallace, James Edwards and Lindsey Hunter.

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 Wobbly Pistons blitzed early by Bucks as Bogey scores 33

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Dunk of the Week – Week 14

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Assist  of the Week – Week 14

A trip to Europe didn’t do much to alter exchange-rate reality for the Pistons. In their economy, if one big man returns another must exit.

Back from Paris and ready to resume a more ordinary NBA experience, the Pistons will host Milwaukee on Monday with Jalen Duren having returned from injury one game ago, Isaiah Stewart unavailable with a shoulder injury and Nerlens Noel likely to relieve Hamidou Diallo and Kevin Knox of emergency center roles.

It’s been a revolving door up front for the Pistons since the calendar flipped to 2023, starting with Marvin Bagley III’s broken hand incurred in the new year’s first game, a Jan. 2 loss at Portland. Stewart missed three games with left shoulder soreness before returning for a pair and Duren missed before coming back against Chicago.

No one would have wished the injury on Duren, but Dwane Casey felt the right ankle injury came at a time when the NBA’s youngest player was in need of a reprieve.

“I wouldn’t say I was worn down,” Duren said after Sunday’s practice with the Pistons back stateside.“ I probably would say everybody is tired. Everybody’s sore. My first year, I’m just getting used to all the travel but I feel like I’m ready to go any time.”

While Duren sat, Noel – used in only eight games all season until the recent run of injuries decimated Casey’s frontcourt – reminded the NBA of his defensive prowess. In leading a Pistons win over Minnesota two weeks ago, Noel recorded four blocked shots and three steals in a decisive third-quarter spurt. Duren was among those who took note. But Noel has since missed the past two games with a foot issue.

“Just the simple fact of always being ready to go,” Duren said of the veteran’s pinch-hit success. “Nerlens has been a great veteran presence for us bigs. Just him going out there when his name is called and being ready to produce is huge.”

Having Duren and Noel available at least spares the Pistons the need to play Diallo or Knox at center against one of the NBA’s most powerful teams, the Bucks. Milwaukee comes to Little Caesars Arena as the NBA’s No. 2 rebounding team and gets back MVP contender Giannis Antetokounmpo plus All-Star Khris Middleton. Antetokounmpo has missed Milwaukee’s last five games with a knee injury and Middleton has been out since Dec. 15 with knee soreness after missing all but seven games to that point with a wrist injury that dated to last season.

It will be just the second game for the Pistons since they hosted New York on Jan. 15, yet only a handful of teams have logged as many as the 48 games Detroit has played already. The Pistons will have more off days and fewer extended road trips over the season’s final 11 weeks, giving Casey more opportunities to practice than is typical at a point of the season when teams generally are scaling back on practice time to preserve energy. Especially because the Pistons are so young – four starters 21 or younger and 10 players 24 or younger on the roster – Casey will lean in to teaching and fundamentals down the stretch.

“That’s what I told the team. ‘We’re not doing this to punish you. We’re doing this to continue to grow and get better.’ We have to,” Casey said. “It’s about growth. It’s about building habits, winning habits. I thought the Chicago game, for whatever reason, it was probably one of our worst games defensively as far as our assignments. The focus part – that’s what today was about, focusing in, locking in defensively.”