The Detroit Pistons will take on the Philadelphia 76ers in the finale of preseason with the regular season just five days away.
Both teams will be shorthanded, as the Pistons will be without Cade Cunningham, Killian Hayes and Saddiq Bey at least.
The 76ers will be missing Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid, Tobias Harris, Danny Green, Matisse Thybulle and Shake Milton, so if you were expecting to see a matchup of stars, you will be disappointed.
Simmons has recently been attached to the Detroit Pistons in trade rumors, but I feel like those were Troy Weaver just doing his due diligence on an unhappy star.
The Detroit Pistons have been up and down this preseason, winning their first game vs. the Spurs behind one hot quarter of shooting, getting blown out by Memphis before losing a close defensive struggle against the Knicks.
Ultimately the wins and losses in preseason don’t matter but there are some things we’d like to se in the finale.
Detroit Pistons: Will free throws be a crutch for the Pistons?
The Detroit Pistons have shot the ball terribly this preseason, which was somewhat expected with Cade Cunningham on the bench.
In the game vs. the Knicks, the Pistons were able to make up for it somewhat by getting to the free-throw line, which is something they are going to have to lean on this season as they try to get their shooting going.
Guys like Josh Jackson and Hamidou Diallo are never going to be lights-out shooters, but they can use their athleticism to get to the rim and pick up fouls.
Detroit was one of the league-leaders in free-throw attempts last season, but they were near the bottom in percentage, so they not only have to keep getting there, but need to knock more of them down.
Free-throw attempts are going to be huge for a team that lacks shooters, so hopefully the Pistons will keep up the trend of getting to the line.
Detroit Pistons: Rebounding vs. a real center
The Pistons have lost the rebounding battle in every preseason game but the one against the Knicks, in which they had exactly one more board than New York.
The caveat is that the Knicks were missing their two centers, so the undersized Pistons have yet to show that they can compete on the glass against a team with a real center.
With Embiid out, the 76ers are likely to lean on former Piston Andre Drummond, whose career has been in a bit of a free fall since leaving Detroit.
Whatever you think of Andre, the man can still rebound and he’ll be eager to get every one of them against his former team. This will be a great challenge for Isaiah Stewart, as Drummond is not only big but quick off his feet, which will offset some of the speed advantage Stewart normally enjoys against traditional centers.
Rookie Luka Garza might get a little more run in the final game, and he too will be up for the challenge of trying to keep Drummond off the glass.
Rebounding is going to be a big issue for the Detroit Pistons this season and how they deal with high quality rebounding bigs is going to be crucial to their success.
Can the Pistons keep Drummond in check? Can they take advantage of him on the other end?
Detroit Pistons: Who is going to score in the half court with Cade Cunningham out?
As I said before, the Pistons have shot the ball terribly this preseason and part of that is because Cade Cunningham was not playing.
Cunningham is going to be the focal point of the Pistons’ offense, as he can get his own shot from all three levels, draw double teams and create better shots for his teammates.
The Detroit Pistons will be getting much better looks once they are at full strength, but when is that going to be?
Cade Cunningham’s ankle injury is somewhat concerning, as he has yet to play in the preseason and will sit again vs. Philly.
This could be the team just being overcautious, which is fine, but the Pistons are clearly trying to lower expectations that he will return for the first regular-season game, so the they are going to have to figure out how to get shots in the half court without their rookie point guard if he does have to miss time.
Hopefully Cade will be back at full strength soon and this won’t be an issue, but if he is not, the Pistons will need to figure out a Plan B, as their offense has been stagnant in the half court.
Can they get the ball moving tonight? Can they create better shots against Philly’s backups? There are a lot of questions heading into this final preseason game.