Detroit Pistons 2019-2020 Preview: Blake Griffin

Reviewing Griffin’s 2018-19 season

Fast forward to the 2018-19 season, and from the jump Blake Griffin appeared to be a new iteration of himself. In just the third game of the season at home against the Philadelphia 76ers, Griffin posted a 50-point performance. The fans were excited, the city was electric, and everything felt as if it was going the way we always hoped.

Through their first four games, not only were the Detroit Pistons 4-0 but Blake Griffin was putting on a scintillating scoring display. Averaging 33.8 points per game, 11.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game while shooting 55.7 percent from the field and 65.2 percent from three. What Griffin was doing on the court was something Detroit Pistons fans hadn’t seen in quite some time, and the prospect of pairing him with All-Star center Andre Drummond was working flawlessly.

Then the Pistons fell … hard. Teams began to figure out how to defend Blake, by forcing him into the low post then sending a double team, forcing him to put up a contested shot or kick back out to the perimeter. The Pistons star was being stopped. After losing their next five games, the Pistons did have some quality wins including a five-game winning streak, two wins coming against Houston and Golden State. His scoring average was hovering at 24.0 points per game, but his shot was struggling. He was only shooting 25.0 percent from three, which is where the team was hurting the most.

Ish Smith’s injury was the turning point of the season. Missing 26 games, the Detroit Pistons went an abysmal 8-18. The brunt of the workload was on Griffin’s shoulders and fans worried how this would effect him down the stretch if there was a playoff push to be made.

Thankfully the team eventually recovered and Blake made the All-Star team. With 21 different games of scoring 30 or more points, it was evident that Coach Dwane Casey had figured out how to utilize Griffin.

As the aforementioned point read, the Detroit Pistons in seasons past have consistently found their success largely contingent on their ball movement. Adding a stretch player like Griffin into the mix, the isolation basketball was still there, but was no where near as prominent as it was under SVG. Griffin was able to trust his teammates not only on the perimeter, but with Drummond in the post as well.

The Pistons very ungracefully somersaulted into the playoffs and found their opening matchup against a 60-win Milwaukee Bucks team. While Griffin himself later revealed he had torn his meniscus at the end of the regular season, that went unknown to Detroit Pistons fans. He missed the first two games of the series, but returned for the final two before getting swept.

To say we witnessed inspiring performances would be a gross understatement. Griffin went out onto the floor for those final two games despite having a brace on his knee the size of Little Caesars Arena itself. Averaging 24.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 6.0 assists on 46.2 percent shooting from the field in both games, he instilled a final impression on the season that fans have held onto all summer. That Blake Griffin is a certified Detroit Piston.