Detroit Pistons: 3 takeaways from brick-fest vs. Nuggets

The Detroit Pistons almost didn’t have enough players for a team in their loss to the Denver Nuggets.

The Pistons sent out a squad with 24-year-old Josh Jackson as their oldest player, and the “veteran” led the tank, missing all seven of his 3-point attempts on a night where the Pistons could have built another Palace out of their bricks (more on this in a minute).

There weren’t many bright spots in a game Detroit clearly needed to lose, but there were two aspects of the loss that should give fans of the Pistons some hope for the future.

Here are three takeaways from an ugly loss.

Detroit Pistons: The Pistons can’t shoot

When I was going through the Pistons biggest offseason needs, I was tempted just to write SHOOTING and leave it at that.

The Detroit Pistons only had eight guys and lost one of them to injury at halftime, so it’s not like they were rolling with their best, but WOW.

The Pistons made 6-of-37 from 3-point range for an embarrassing 16.2 percent, or roughly what I would shoot if Kawhi Leonard were guarding me in a pickup game.

SIXTEEN PERCENT! To say this team needs to find some shooters is an understatement. Josh Jackson missed all seven of his attempts, Hamidou Diallo and Killian Hayes joined him, missing all of their combined 11 attempts. Normally reliable Saddiq Bey made just 2-of-10 and even center Jahlil Okafor, not wanting to be left out, went 0-for-2 from long range.

But it didn’t stop there.

The Detroit Pistons also missed six free throws, another problem that has plagued them all year. This is a young team that can defend and has some exciting talent, but they are not going to make the leap into the playoffs next season unless they get some consistent shooting, it’s that simple.

Detroit Pistons: The Pistons have the defense of a playoff team

I recently predicted that the Detroit Pistons would have a top ten defense next season.

Forget next season, they have one now.

After holding Denver to just 104 points in the loss, the Detroit Pistons are now 10th in the NBA in points allowed per game, a year ahead of Dwane Casey’s schedule and one of the big reasons his extension was smart.

The Pistons, even with all of their youth and lineup changes, are a top-ten defense this season and Casey has to be given some credit for that.

This bodes well for the Pistons, as they are the only team in the top-ten that is not headed to the playoffs. In fact, the nine teams ahead of them happen to be the nine best teams in the NBA this season.

This is the main reason I think the Pistons can make a leap next season. They are already a good defensive team and will get better with another offseason to work together. If they can just find a reliable scorer to complement Jerami Grant, this team is going to be good sooner rather than expected.

Detroit Pistons: Deividas Sirvydis goes off

One of the only bright spots in last night’s game was the first-half play of Deividas Sirvydis. The youngster was in his bag, going off for 16 first half points and nailing 4-of-7 from long range, which stood out even more considering the Pistons only had six makes total as a team.

It wasn’t just his 3-point shooting that was impressive, he was running the floor well and looked amazing on this Euro step in transition:

This kid can score, that much is certain, but this game also brought up his biggest question marks.

Who is he going to guard? And can he withstand the rigors of an NBA season?

After playing the best half of his life, Sirvydis was sidelined with a calf injury and couldn’t return, which is not a good sign, as the biggest knock on him is that he weighs 190 lbs. and won’t be able to hold up against NBA defenders.

Hopefully he’ll be able to return for the final game, but even if he doesn’t, the Detroit Pistons may have found some of the 3-point shooting and bench scoring that they need.

There’s only one more game left in what has been a LONG season, but the Pistons are hoping it pays off with a top-five pick.