Detroit Pistons vs. San Antonio Spurs 2019-20 season preview

Pistons O vs. Spurs D

Outside of Griffin and Drummond, no one left their mark against the Spurs in the first matchup while poor shooting did the Pistons in when they met a second time. While the Spurs weren’t a very good defensive team overall, their defensive strengths match up against the Pistons rather well.

Aldridge is a larger power forward who can withstand Griffin’s bully ball, and the Spurs now have two strong defensive guards in Derrick White and Murray.

Should the Spurs decide play White and Murray together, Detroit’s guards may struggle on the offensive end. The Pistons should look to attack Bryn Forbes and DeRozan whenever they are on the floor since they are two of the weakest defenders on the Spurs that get substantial minutes.

The Pistons should do what they can to run a pick-and-roll with either Reggie Jackson or Griffin as the ball handler. Getting Jakob Pöltl switched onto Jackson or Griffin should allow both of them to make use of their relative quickness.

Drummond should be able to capitalize on the offensive glass and make life difficult for Pöltl as a roll man, and hopefully Tony Snell can hit enough outside shots to keep the floor spread for the rest of the Pistons starters.

The addition of Derrick Rose should give the bench a much needed spark. Rose and Luke Kennard need to carry the bench offensively. In both matchups last season, the Pistons’ bench unit was overmatched. In both games collectively, they shot 32.7 percent from the field. If the Pistons would like to win either matchup, they need quality contributions from the bench.