The Detroit Pistons lost their 11th in a row and final home game of the 2022-23 season.
It was a typical game for Detroit, as they fell behind early (a trend all season) came back in the third and then fell apart in the 4th against the Brooklyn Nets, who are playing for playoff seeding.
A quote from RJ Hampton, who scored a career-high 27 points, really summarized the season for the Detroit Pistons:
"“It came down to the little things again tonight — that’s what always seems to be the issue for us,” Hampton said. “We need to take the step up from playing 42 good minutes to playing 48 good minutes. That’s when we will win some games.”"
Detroit is a 42 minute team right now (at best) and has failed all season to do the little things like close out possessions with defensive rebounds, a theme again last night, as they allowed 11, which helped the Nets maintain their lead.
Jaden Ivey continued his strong play, notching 23 points, 10 assists and five rebounds in his quest to make the All-Rookie 1st team even though the Pistons are the worst team in the league.
In fact, after last night’s loss, Detroit was the only team in the NBA that failed to win 10 games at home, so Little Caesar’s Arena was not so sweet to the Pistons this year, and fans were treated to just nine home victories.
But it was the talk after the game that really grabbed fans’ interest.
Detroit Pistons: Dwane Casey talks future
Probably the biggest question hanging over the end of this season is whether the Pistons are going to bring coach Dwane Casey back for the final year of his deal.
The issue hadn’t really been addressed by either the team or coach Casey, but he was asked directly about his future last night, and here is the full quote of what he had to say according to beat writer Omari Sanokfa II:
I asked Dwane Casey, who has one year left on his contract, how meaningful it would be to return next season and have a chance to see the rebuild through.
— Offseason O (@omarisankofa) April 6, 2023
“It would be good, but I want to do what’s best for the organization.”
Full quote: pic.twitter.com/NDrhKJa38E
That doesn’t sound like the talk of a man who plans on being back next season. Coach Casey met with Tom Gores after the game and it’s starting to sound more and more like the Pistons will have a new coach soon.
This will make some fans very happy, as Casey has been the focal point of a lot of frustration this season, but we’ll obviously have to wait two more games to find out Detroit’s plans.