The Detroit Pistons host the Cleveland Cavaliers Monday night at Little Caesars Arena. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. local time on Fox Sports Detroit. Here are three keys to a Pistons’ victory.
1. Limiting turnovers
This season, the Detroit Pistons are averaging 15.0 turnovers per game according to NBA.com. They rank 15th in the NBA in this category.
Are you seeing a trend yet?
The Pistons will need to start taking care of the ball better on offense if they wish to continue winning. On the flip side, they rank 24th in steals per game (6.7) and 28th in blocks per game (4.0).
This leads to my next point.
2. Defensive efficiency
Detroit’s plus/minus is in the bottom half of the NBA this season as well, ranking 18th overall. While the Pistons fall in the bottom-half of most defensive categories so far this season, they do rank dead last in personal fouls per game with an average of 24.6.
While they struggle on defense, they have no trouble rebounding the ball on either end of the floor Detroit is second in the NBA in offensive rebounds per game and tenth in defensive rebounds per game.
3. Outside shooting
Perimeter shooting has been one of the biggest struggles for the Detroit Pistons this season. Tonight they will look to change that against a sub-par Cavaliers defense as they get in rhythm.
Last week, site expert, Brenden Welper wrote an article on the Pistons’ 3-point attempts and how they should be addressed. The Pistons are dead last in 3-point shooting percentage this season, averaging 31.3 percent on 34.8 attempts per game.
Their leader in this category is Blake Griffin, who also leads them in points per game (24.5) this season as well.
He is shooting 36.4 percent from behind the arc this season.