3 takeaways from the Detroit Pistons 96-82 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies

An inability to make adjustments

Generally whenever Andre Drummond is able to impose his will in the paint to open a game, it seems like the Pistons always move away from him as the game progresses. This is usually chalked up to Dwane Casey wanting to avoid predictability.

Tonight was another instance of Drummond completely dominating the inside, having scored 10 points in the opening 6 minutes of the game. The way that the Pistons were able to utilize the pick and roll with both Drummond and Christian Wood was temporarily indefensible.

Then the second quarter began and Taylor Jenkins (who just won the Western Conference Coach of the Month Award) made the appropriate defensive adjustments. This was nothing new for the Pistons though.

Memphis began sending multiple bodies to the paint every time Detroit approached a half-court setting in order to take Drummond out of the play. Their defensive scheme was mirroring the Milwaukee Bucks with how they attempt to create a force field around the post.

This left the perimeter largely undefended. The issue was that Detroit just kept attempting to feed Drummond down low, and it was leading to missed shots at the rim, blocks, turnovers, and all around bad possessions.

Detroit was set on trying to maximize Drummond’s abilities and it wasn’t working. They weren’t able to create looks for him, and he wasn’t able to create them for himself. Despite scoring 25 points and securing 18 rebounds, he was largely ineffective in the second half.