Detroit Pistons vs. Philadelphia 76ers 2019-20 season preview
Pistons’ Offense vs. Philly’s Defense
The Sixers are one of the few teams that can match Detroit’s size in the frontcourt, where Embiid and Horford are good matchups for Drummond and Griffin. Embiid is a force as a rim protector and hopes to break through and win defensive player of the year. Horford is an intelligent team defender who switches well, can step out on smaller players and in general is the glue that makes a defense work.
Add some combination of Harris, Ennis, Josh Richardson and Simmons and you are looking at a giant team that will have size advantages all over the floor.
Related Story. Breaking down potential Pistons rotations in 2019-20. light
This could be one of the games where the Pistons try to go small, use Griffin or Thon Maker at center and hope they can run the Sixers off the floor with a three-guard lineup that features Luke Kennard at small forward.
The Pistons advantage at the four has been negated by Horford so they will need to be creative. Detroit could create matchup problems by going small on offense but would likely get punished in the post on the other end, so they’ll have to choose their spots.
Detroit may also find some advantages in the second unit, where backup point guard Derrick Rose should be able to have his way with whoever Philly puts on him. Detroit may feature lineups against Philly that they don’t use against many other teams, so these are games where coach Dwayne Casey is going to earn his salary.