Pistons play in OKC
By J.M. Poulard
Essentials
- Teams: Detroit Pistons (2-6) at Oklahoma City Thunder (3-6)
- Date: November 14
- Time: 8:00 p.m.
- Television: FSD+
Get in the Game
The Oklahoma City Thunder look nothing like the team fans have become accustomed to over the last five years. The absences of Kevin Durant (foot) and Russell Westbrook (wrist) due to injury have drastically altered the makeup of the Thunder.
The squad has lost most of its scoring punch and creativity. OKC no longer has the necessary horses to compete offensively as evidenced by their bottom-three ranking.
Keep in mind, the losses of Durant and Westbrook are hard to stomach for head coach Scott Brooks, and things got a little worse when they lost Perry Jones, the player who was supposed to “replace” KD.
Jones is questionable with a bruised right knee heading into tonight’s game, but OKC could certainly use his 15 points per game.
Otherwise, the Thunder have to resort to odd sets like Steven Adams post-ups and Serge Ibaka long-range spot-ups. Ibaka is averaging a career-high 4.6 three-point attempts per game.
Further exacerbating matters for Oklahoma City, starting 2-guard Jeremy Lamb doesn’t do much in terms of distinguishing between good and bad shots (he has some J.R. Smith in him). Heck, even when he takes open looks, he’s been awful. SportVU data tracking tells us Lamb is making 17.6 percent (!) of his catch-and-shoot opportunities.
Bad right?
It gets worse. Lamb is firing away four treys per game, but he’s only making 18.8 percent of his threes. 18.8 percent!
Save for Reggie Jackson, their best player right now, every other guy on the team is severely limited and relies on scheme to get open. For instance, Lance Thomas spends the majority of his 28.4 minutes per game running through screens and faking backdoor cuts.
If he’s lucky, he’ll lull his defender to sleep and catch the ball on the move for a score. NBA.com tells us that 69.2 percent of Thomas’ made field goals have been assisted this season, a clear sign that he needs the help of others to produce points.
That’s why Jackson has become OKC’s most important player with Durant and Westbrook shelved.
Jackson is the lone player capable of creating his shot and setting up others for anything resembling a quality look. Ibaka only gets open in the pick-and-pop with Jackson, because defenses are forced to account for the guard, which means Ibaka gets to float around the perimeter unchecked.
What does it all mean for the Detroit Pistons tonight?
In order to secure a victory, they must make sure that OKC plays the way it’s played all season. Thus, Detroit must rotate off Lamb to help out on Ibaka and Jackson. The key is to limit their efficiency while forcing the rest of the Thunder roster to make plays outside of its scope.
If the Pistons can manage that, they’ll have their first road win of the season.
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