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Detroit Pistons: Behind Enemy Lines With Sixer Sense

By Duncan Smith

Dec 9, 2015; Auburn Hills, MI, USA; Detroit Pistons guard Reggie Jackson (1) and guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (5) high five forward Ersan Ilyasova (23) during the fourth quarter against the Memphis Grizzlies at The Palace of Auburn Hills. against the Memphis won 93-92. Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 9, 2015; Auburn Hills, MI, USA; Detroit Pistons guard Reggie Jackson (1) and guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (5) high five forward Ersan Ilyasova (23) during the fourth quarter against the Memphis Grizzlies at The Palace of Auburn Hills. against the Memphis won 93-92. Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports /
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Dec 9, 2015; Auburn Hills, MI, USA; Detroit Pistons guard Reggie Jackson (1) and guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (5) high-five forward Ersan Ilyasova (23) during the fourth quarter against the Memphis Grizzlies at The Palace of Auburn Hills. against the Memphis won 93-92. Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 9, 2015; Auburn Hills, MI, USA; Detroit Pistons guard Reggie Jackson (1) and guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (5) high-five forward Ersan Ilyasova (23) during the fourth quarter against the Memphis Grizzlies at The Palace of Auburn Hills. against the Memphis won 93-92. Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports /

The Detroit Pistons have lost two games in a row, and the Philadelphia 76ers might be just the cure for what ails them lately.

The Detroit Pistons have been a maddening team this year in some ways. They’ve beaten the Atlanta Hawks, the Chicago Bulls and the Cleveland Cavaliers, but they’ve lost games to the Los Angeles Lakers and the Brooklyn Nets.

On the surface, they’re most unpredictable, but if you dig a little deeper you can see patterns in the madness. They’re simply just plain bad on the road, for one thing.

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They’re 4-8 on the road, they have the second worst offensive rating in the NBA in road games, scoring just 95.1 points per 100 possessions, and they have the 19th best defensive rating in the NBA, allowing 100.7 points per 100 possessions. That yields the 22nd best net rating in the NBA at -5.6.

The Pistons shoot abysmally on the road. They have an NBA-worst effective field goal percentage on the road of 45 percent, a full 1.2 percent worse than the next worst team, the 1-22 Philadelphia 76ers. Their true shooting percentage is also an NBA-low at an incredibly low 47.8 percent, 2.1 percent below the Sixers, who are the next worst team.

There is something about traveling away from the Palace of Auburn Hills that doesn’t seem to agree with the Detroit Pistons, and that is a concern. The Philadelphia 76ers are the Pistons’ opponents on Friday night, and considering the dismal road performance this team has been producing, this matchup looks like it could be a pretty clear trap game.

In order to help us understand the Sixers more fully, I spoke with Sixer Sense writer George Kondoleon. You can follow George on Twitter @georgeythegreek, and if you’re interested in the Sixers, their rebuild, being Greek or live-tweeted Food Network programming, he’s your man.

I asked questions, and he had answers.

Next: Nik Stauskas

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