3 takeaways from Detroit Pistons 119-110 win over the Indiana Pacers

The point guard conundrum

Rose was dynamic in his debut as a Piston. He scored 18 points on 14 attempts (including free throws), dished 9 assists and turned it over 4 times in just over 26 minutes.

In the meantime, Reggie Jackson scored 5 points on 3 attempts, dished 5 assists, turned it over once in just over 20 minutes and looked horrible doing it. It’s clear that Reggie Jackson is not healthy. He didn’t look healthy in the preseason either.

Before the game, Jackson was listed as probable with back soreness and during the game he looked like his back was sore. Casey even had to put Tim Frazier in the game for a minute because, frankly, Jackson couldn’t handle any more minutes at that point and Rose is on a minute restriction.

Tonight, the Pistons have a back to back and they can’t rest both of their point guards. It’s pretty clear that  Frazier is going to see some action tonight and Casey is fairly comfortable with that. But no one should be comfortable with the way Reggie Jackson has looked so far.

With Blake Griffin out, the Pistons need all the help they can get and they won’t be able to survive if Jackson is not healthy. I had some concerns before the game but now I’m genuinely worried about him.

Rose looked fantastic last night. He came out of the gate running and offered a change of pace off the bench. He excited fans early with this crossover and acrobatic finish.

But the coaching staff shouldn’t put more burden on him than he can handle. They have to preserve him for later in the season, including the postseason. With Blake Griffin out and Reggie Jackson not 100 percent, that will be difficult to do.

The plan last night was to swap between Reggie Jackson and Derrick Rose in the middle of each quarter. That way, Jackson gets to start the game and Rose gets to finish it. That seems like a sound plan and has worked before with Ish Smith on the team. But Jackson couldn’t even handle that kind of workload last night.

Tonight, they play on a back to back and, to be honest, they should be resting both of them, which I doubt will happen. In any case, the Pistons have to turn to other solutions like Frazier and Brown Jr. if they want to keep both their point guards healthy.

However, that lowers their chance to win a lot of games in an easy part of their schedule. If they stay at .500 during this time span, it will be really hard to compete for a higher seed when things get tougher. Health has always been the x-factor for this team and it still is.

Overall, it was a great exciting game and there was no better way to end it than a win. The Pistons were so good that everyone forgot Blake Griffin was missing. Let’s hope for another great one tonight and health above all else.