3 takeaways from Pistons 120-114 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves

The Detroit Pistons tried but failed to get the win in Blake Griffin’s season debut. Here are the three major things we took away from the game.

With Blake Griffin and Derrick Rose back from injury it felt like nothing could stop the Detroit Pistons. But the Minnesota Timberwolves did in a 120-114 loss for Detroit. We’ll talk about that.

Griffin was excellent in his debut, scoring 19 points on 12 field-goal attempts and 6-of-8 free throws. He also got seven rebounds and six assists. He looked good but also a bit rusty with four turnovers.

Luke Kennard was even better, scoring 25 points on 17 field goals and five free throws, seven rebounds and two assists. Rose, on the other hand, probably had his worst game of the year, shooting 3-13 for six points, but with five assists and no turnovers.

Tony Snell and Langston Galloway continue shooting lights out. Both went four out of six from the three-point land and scored 16 and 18 points respectively.

1.Dwane Casey’s rotations

I’m not one to blame it on the coach but Dwane Casey undeniably played a big role in last night’s loss. He started the game with Rose, Kennard, Snell, Griffin and Andre Drummond. That was a clear mistake evident by the fact that he changed the lineup in the second half.

You just can’t start all of your ball handlers together. It’s great to have different, great options in the lineup because the defense doesn’t know where it’s coming from. But the Pistons don’t have the luxury of using all their great options in the same unit.

That means they are left without any good options when they go to their bench. They closed the first quarter with Bruce Brown, Langston Galloway, Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk, Markieff Morris and Thon Maker. You have to have either Kennard or Rose in there.

There’s just no NBA level creation with that lineup. That’s how you get Galloway and Snell shots that are not that open, Markieff Morris isolations with five seconds on the clock and Maker trying to catch a Brown pass like it’s a bullet.

You can live with some possessions ending like this but you can’t have a lineup where all options are this bad. Then we get to the next point.

Thon Maker.

Against Karl-Anthony Towns, any coach would fear to put Christian Wood in the game.

But Maker isn’t much better on that end either. Casey goes with Maker for the backup center minutes because he’s better at the drop coverage. The truth is, neither Wood nor Maker are effective droppers. Maker can block shots but even guards can bump him and send him flying.

Which makes the offensive rebound very easy. There’s a 15.2 percent drop off in rebounding difference when he’s on the floor. That means the Pistons go from outrebounding their opponents to being completely outmatched when Maker steps in.

Wood makes a lot of mistakes that would infuriate any coach. A lot. But at least he can rebound and catch a pass. Don’t be fooled. Both are bad options but at least Wood has some redeeming qualities and higher upside.

Neither of the two are reliable drop options, so that coverage has to change. Show, trap, switch, anything that works. They have to try something else. That lineup gave up a huge lead to end the first because of ineptitude on both ends and the Wolves getting hot from three.

Then Casey went with Rose, Griffin, Drummond to start the second but kept Kennard on the bench to use him later with the second unit. That worked much better as a strategy but the Pistons were already behind.

Galloway was looking really good playing with Griffin and Drummond but Casey decided to go with Tim Frazier in the second half, which made no sense. Galloway is a better defender and with better ball handlers in the lineup, Frazier will naturally have an off-ball role anyway. A role that fits Galloway a lot more.

With no one able to handle him in the post, a lot of the Pistons offense ran through Griffin and Frazier found himself spotting up from the perimeter all the time. It would have been much more logical to put Kennard, Galloway and Snell alongside Griffin and Drummond at that point.

Those three have been shooting lights out and it’s a shame that they only played four minutes, 23 seconds together. Casey went with Frazier again in the fourth, probably because he had to rest Snell.

Frazier is just not good enough to be the primary ball-handler and most of the secondary actions are dribble handoffs which is not Frazier’s game. Either run high pick-and-rolls for him or sit him for either Brown for defense or Mykhailiuk for offense.

Casey’s lineups were a big reason the Pistons lost the game even though it wasn’t the only one. At least he experimented a little and finally settled for the right one to close the game. It was just too late until that happened. If you see Frazier starting the next game, feel free to panic.