Pistons Open Season in Toronto
By Matthew Way
The Detroit Pistons open the long-awaited 2016-17 regular season by looking to upset the Toronto Raptors at the Air Canada Centre.
The Detroit Pistons begin the 2016-17 regular season traveling to the Air Canada Centre, a place where opponents only won 9 times in the 2015-16 regular season. The Pistons lost their final preseason game to the Toronto Raptors, and will look to bounce back with a win in Toronto. The Raptors are coming off last year’s Eastern Conference Finals appearance, a series that the young Pistons undoubtedly want to be in come this year’s playoffs.
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Last year, the Raptors took the season series from the Pistons, winning two of three games. The Raptors won, as usual, on the strength of their strong starting back court. Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan presented issues for the Pistons defense, in part because Kentavious Caldwell-Pope can only guard one player at a time. Look for the Raptors guards to again go after the other Pistons guard, whether it be Ish Smith or Beno Udrih.
As if defending both Lowry and DeRozan wasn’t enough, Jonas Valanciunas got it on the fun against the Pistons last season. Valanciunas scored just 11 points per game, but he did so incredibly efficiently, shooting 74 percent from the field. The pressure will be on Andre Drummond. If he struggles yet again with Valanciunas, it could be a long night for the Pistons.
Offensively, the Pistons look to prove that they can score enough without Reggie Jackson to stay competitive. Ish Smith will need to take good care of the ball against Lowry, who was fourth in the league last year in steals per game. Smith has historically turned the ball over a lot, something the Pistons will not be able to afford while he’s the starting point guard early in the year.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Marcus Morris, and Tobias Harris will be tasked with taking some of the offensive load off Smith. Against the Raptors, Caldwell-Pope is a good bet to be called on most of anyone. He has probably the best defensive matchup as he’s likely to be defended by DeRozan, the Raptors’ worst perimeter defender among their starters.
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If the Pistons’ secondary creators can take advantage of their matchups and Drummond can bottle up Valanciunas, the Pistons have a solid chance at starting this season the same way they began last season: with a road win against the previous year’s Eastern Conference Runner Up.