For the first time in six years, the Detroit Pistons have returned to the NBA playoff scene, coming in as the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference. With a daunting challenge against Cleveland coming up, Detroit’s young talent will need to show up on the big stage if they want to stand a chance.
The last time Detroit basketball made the playoffs, their top three scorers were Rip Hamilton, Allen Iverson, and Tayshaun Prince. Safe to say, this year’s edition looks slightly different.
The 8th-seeded Pistons are led by their two young, core players, point guard Reggie Jackson and center Andre Drummond.
The 26 year old Jackson came over to Detroit at the trade deadline last season from Oklahoma City, and quickly established himself as the main offensive conduit for the Pistons. This season, Jackson led the team in scoring and assists, with 18.8 and 6.2 per game, respectively. Out from under the shadow of the Thunder’s elite talent, Jackson has blossomed in Detroit and is easily their most versatile and dangerous offensive threat. However, there are concerns for him with a lingering abdominal strain that could play a factor in this series. He sat out the last two games, which was mostly precautionary, but Jackson will need to be 100 percent in this series so he can counter the play of Cavs guard Kyrie Irving.
Andre Drummond has emerged into a force early in his career, as he is only 22 but has put up 16.2 points and 14.8 rebounds per game this year. Drummond has recorded 66 double-doubles this season, comfortably topping the NBA (Russell Westbrook is second with 54). In an NBA where teams are progressively getting smaller. Drummond has remained as a dominant immovable force, especially on the offensive end, where he is averaging almost five offensive rebounds per game. When he is on the court the Pistons are much stronger, as they have a +6.6 difference in net rating when Drummond is on the floor compared to when he comes off. With Mozgov not playing as strong as last season, Drummond’s size could be where Detroit exploits Cleveland.
While Jackson and Drummond are the stars, head coach and POB Stan Van Gundy has developed a well balanced team. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has developed into a strong on-ball defender who plays a lot of minutes for the Pistons. Filling out the starting lineup is two forwards that were acquired in shrewd trades in the last year, Marcus Morris and Tobias Harris. Both are shooting in the high 30s from three, providing the spacing needed for Drummond to succeed.
They also have a surprisingly solid bench lineup. Detroit’s fourth most used lineup, Steve Blake, rookie Stanley Johnson, Morris, Anthony Tolliver, and Aron Baynes has a net rating of 12.5. Minutes obviously go down for bench players in the playoffs, but the Pistons do have the ability to go to their bench without giving away the game.
The Pistons have a well balanced team that can be dangerous in a few different ways. But they are up against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round, a team with a lot more experience, and frankly, talent. While the odds are against the Pistons, a return to the playoffs on the backs of a young and talented team has breathed new life into basketball in Detroit.
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