Pistons Hit the Desert
By J.M. Poulard
Essentials
- Teams: Detroit Pistons (3-19) at Phoenix Suns (12-11)
- Date: December 12
- Time: 9:00 p.m.
- Television: FSD+
Get in the Game
The Detroit Pistons and Phoenix Suns will star tonight in the “something’s got to give bowl” as both teams enter the contest with losing streaks.
The Pistons start a Western Conference three-game road stretch with the hope of ending their 13-game skid. They get the Suns tonight, the Sacramento Kings tomorrow on the second leg of a back-to-back set and the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday.
It’s a tough trio of opponents, but perhaps Phoenix will let the Pistons off the hook tonight. The Suns have lost three straight games and could very well fall again tonight against Detroit.
Sure, the Suns boast a top-11 offense, but Detroit coach Stan Van Gundy might be a little encouraged about the prospect of measuring his defense against it. The reason is simple: The Suns are a jump-shooting team.
Everything they do originates from the play of their backcourt players. Eric Bledsoe and Goran Dragic run a multitude of pick-and-rolls with the idea in mind of forcing defenses to rotate and give something up. Typically, the opening is from downtown as evidenced by the fact Phoenix is third in long-range attempts per contest.
On a good night, the Suns make you pay for giving up open looks with a 37.6 percent conversion rate from downtown. On those other nights, opposing coaches are happy with the results because Phoenix doesn’t have much else to offer except for a strong transition game.
Team Rankings tells us that the Suns are in the league’s bottom-half paint scoring teams, a clear result of their jump-shooting ways. That’s what makes the fast break game so important for this team, because it’s the only form of easy baskets it gets.
However, those opportunities require good or perhaps even great rebounders, something the Suns don’t exactly have. Once they get the ball off the glass, they get out and run the opposition out of the gym, but Phoenix is a fairly small team. As a result, they rank in the league’s bottom third as far as allowing offensive rebounds.
Phoenix’s win-loss record clearly outpaces Detroit’s, but basketball comes down to matchups, and the Pistons should like the ones they will enjoy tonight. One might point to the fact that Phoenix won a two-point game in Detroit less than a month ago as a sign that the Pistons are ill equipped to handle these Suns, but that contest highlighted the Pistons’ strengths.
Detroit only made 37.9 percent of its shots but collected 15 offensive rebounds. If Van Gundy’s unit can improve its shooting proficiency and hit the glass, the Pistons might just leave the desert with a W.
Read about the Suns