Detroit Pistons need to better utilize load management with Blake Griffin

With the injury bug crawling around the Detroit Pistons, load management has become even more of a necessary evil that could prove fruitful.

Only two Detroit Pistons – Bruce Brown and Langston Galloway – have played in all 30 games this season, and that highlights the issues they’ve endured with injuries.

Chief among them are two starters. Reggie Jackson has missed the last 28 games after playing in the first two. Blake Griffin has played in 15 of the 30 games and has missed three of the last four – all losses.

Detroit is 11-19 and on the cusp of missing the playoffs for the ninth time since 2010 with a West coast trip looming. Griffin may be the X-factor Detroit needs to make a playoff push, given the Pistons are 7-8 when he is in the lineup, even with his struggles.

To the Pistons credit, Griffin has only played one back-to-back, and it didn’t go well. After a brilliant 24-point performance on 8 of 13 against the Cavs, Griffin followed up with 4 of 17 for 16 points and 10 rebounds in a 24-point loss at Milwaukee.

Resting on back-to-backs is a trend the NBA is allowing, whether it’s Kawhi Leonard, Russell Westbrook or other players, like Griffin, who are dealing with injuries or surgeries the previous season. If the NBA is going to allow it, scheduled rest should become a strategic plan to allow Griffin to be fully healthy and give maximum effort when it matters most.

The Pistons need to better manage Griffin’s workload moving forward. He played in 10-straight games and the last three of that stretch he began to falter. In those three games, he was 4 of 32 and scored 17 points. Surprisingly the Pistons were 2-1 in those games but it’s evidence that Griffin needs rest time-to-time.

Griffin has been his most efficient on one-day’s rest. In seven games he’s shooting 43.4% and 35.6% from 3-point range to average 18.3 points in 26.9 minutes per game. That’s a healthy sample size (half his game’s played) and may be the ideal spot to allow Griffin to recover.

The Pistons need to be cautious with Griffin moving forward. If the Pistons want to trade him and maximize his value, health will be key. If the Pistons are going to win games, Griffin needs to be healthy and in the lineup. Even when the 30-year-old isn’t effective, defenses have to scheme for him and Detroit can open up the offense elsewhere.

The six-game holiday road trip will provide a nice sample size for home/road and East/West splits, which have a small sample size but are significant. Realistically, Griffin should be a rest candidate for the Pistons’ remaining seven back-to-backs. He should play the games the Pistons think they can win, especially against teams they’re battling for a playoff spot if that’s the front office’s plan moving forward.

Griffin’s home/road shooting splits are staggering. He’s converting 40% of 125 shots at Little Caesars Arena. On the road, it’s down to 33.3% on 84 shots, though he has made 12 3-pointers on the road and at home, but used 15 fewer attempts on the road.

With the Pistons’ upcoming road trip out West, it’s interesting that in five games against Western Conference teams – Dallas, Houston, Minnesota, New Orleans and San Antonio – Griffin has shot 25% on 56 shots and is scoring 9.2 points per game. Fortunately, the five games out West all come with at least one day off, except for the Warriors-Lakers back-to-back.

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Here’s a look at how strategic resting could go. Griffin could play Monday against Philadelphia, Thursday against Washington and Saturday at San Antonio. He could rest 18-11 Utah Jazz, which would give him four days off before playing against his former team, the Los Angeles Clippers. Another day of rest would allow him to play in the Bay Area against the Warriors before sitting the second game of a back-to-back against the Lakers.

Then the Pistons have a 20-day stretch when they play two games against teams with a winning record. Griffin could rest in the Jan. 15 game at Boston and the Jan. 25 game against the Nets at home, which is the second game of a back-to-back. Given scheduled rest, he’d likely be available for three games against Cleveland (8-21), the Bulls (12-19), Pelicans (7-23), Atlanta (6-24), Washington (8-20) and Sacramento (12-17).

That’s an important stretch for the Pistons before the Feb. 7 trade deadline that could determine what type of trades they make ahead of a brutal post-All-Star break, which includes the most difficult schedule in March in the league.

Strategic resting has become part of the NBA. The Pistons need to utilize it with Griffin and Jackson when he returns from injury.