Dwane Casey won’t be 100 percent satisfied with the Detroit Pistons preseason loss to the Knicks, but there was plenty to like.
The Pistons were winning for most of the game before the Knicks used a 10-0 run in the 3rd quarter to get the lead and keep it for good.
The Pistons were shorthanded with Cade Cunningham, Killian Hayes and Saddiq Bey all sidelined with injuries and the Knicks had their starters play regular-season minutes, so it is not surprising that Detroit ultimately came up short.
Casey was not happy with the energy level or effort in the blowout loss to Memphis, and the Pistons came out with a lot more effort vs. the Knicks. There were undone by horrific shooting yet again, but at least they played hard and didn’t let their poor shooting take them out of the game mentally, which is a step in the right direction.
Here are the three biggest positives from the loss in New York.
Detroit Pistons: The defense
Like I said, the Pistons came out with a lot more defensive intensity in this one even though they were shorthanded.
They ended the game with six blocks and made things difficult for the Knicks all night, especially in the paint, where the Pistons scored 44 points to the Knicks’ 36 and Detroit did not let New York have many easy shots.
With the Pistons shooting still very suspect, this is the type of energy they are going to need defensively if they want to stay in games when shots are not falling.
The Pistons shot just just 40 percent overall and just 29 percent from long range. If you are going to shoot like that, you had better defend or you’re going to be on the bad end of a lot of blowouts.
The Detroit Pistons were much better on the boards
The first two preseason games exposed a problem that could be a big deal for the Pistons this season and that is rebounding.
The Detroit Pistons were significantly out-rebounded in the first two games which led to their opponents taking 31 more shots collectively.
This is not a recipe for success, and it is definitely something coach Casey talked about to his team when he was preaching effort.
The Pistons were much better against the Knicks, winning the rebounding battle by a single board.
However, there are some huge caveats to this, so don’t get too excited. The Knicks were missing their two centers in Nerlens Noel and Mitchell Robinson, who almost certainly would have flipped the rebounding advantage to the Knicks.
The Pistons also gave up 14 offensive rebounds, again, hardly a recipe for success, as they just got lucky the Knicks didn’t capitalize, as they only took two more shots than the Pistons overall.
Detroit had 15 offensive rebounds of their own, but a huge part of this was that they were shooting so many bricks that there were plenty of opportunities.
In other words, we should still be very concerned about this team’s rebounding.
The Detroit Pistons are getting to the line
The only reason the Pistons weren’t blown out in this one was that they made up for their terrible shooting by getting to the free-throw line.
The Pistons lived at the line, taking 23 attempts and knocking down 17 of them, which is not great, but it did keep them in the game.
The Pistons don’t have many shooters, especially with Cade Cunningham out with injury, but they do have a number of guys who can get to the rim and collect fouls.
Jerami Grant, Frank Jackson and Hamidou Diallo all got to the line repeatedly against the Knicks, which somewhat made up for their poor shooting.
If the Pistons long-range shots aren’t going down, which they won’t be a lot of nights, the Pistons are going to have to use their athleticism to get to the rim and draw fouls.
Grant was very good at this last season and has been so far again in the preseason, but the Pistons will also need guys like Josh Jackson to step up in this department.
Grant, Josh Jackson, Frank Jackson, Hamidou Diallo and Kelly Olynyk were a combined 6-of-26 from 3-point range but they went 15-of-20 from the line, which isn’t great, but kept the Knicks in foul trouble and the Pistons in the game.
This will be a strength the Pistons can lean on all season or until they get some shooters.