With most of its big guns absent, the Detroit Pistons had to get points against the Miami Heat from players who usually do not score a lot. Maybe forcing players to shoot who usually don’t, could pay off in the future.
There is a difference between wanting to do something and having to do it. If you can’t swim, you just simply stay in the shallow section of your backyard pool. But if you’re thrown into the ocean, you have to be able to swim, or learn right then and there.
The nine Pistons players who showed up to play against the Miami Heat, needed an emergency ocean swimming lesson. They passed the test and got their badge.
It would have been nice if Detroit pulled out the victory, a true Christmas Miracle, but, still, it took a wild shot by Tyler Herro and some last-minute heroics from Kyle Lowry for the Heat to pull out a 115-112 victory
The amazing part, was that Detroit scored 112 points with virtually all its offensive weapons sidelined.
In case you have not checked the news, Cade Cunningham, Killian Hayes, Isaiah Stewart, Saben Lee and Rodney McGruder all were out, due to being in health & safety protocols. Jerami Grant and Kelly Olynyk were already not going to play due to injuries. Oh, and rookie Isaiah Livers was also out for reconditioning.
That left acting head coach Rex Kalamian (coach Dwane Casey was not there due to personal reasons) with one normal starter (Bey) and two players taller than 6-foot-9 (rookie Luka Garza and newly signed Cheick Diallo)
Besides the obvious concerns about rebounding, the biggest question was: Who the heck is going to score?
Under normal circumstances, Detroit has a problem hitting the broadside of a barn. They are 29th out of 30 teams in offensive efficiency among NBA teams. They barely average 100 points a game as it was, what would they do with no Cunningham, Grant, Stewart and Lee. It promised to be ugly.