The Detroit Pistons enter game four of their first-round series against the Knicks in a must-win situation.
The good news is that the Pistons haven’t played particularly well in any of the first three games and had a chance to win all of them, so it feels like they will get a victory if they can put it all together and get everyone firing at the same time.
The Pistons have a couple of advantages in this one, especially if the Knicks are missing a big man, and they have to exploit them to send this series back to New York in a tie.
The Pistons bench: Wearing the Knicks down
The Pistons’ bench has dominated in this series and it's a matchup they have to win handily to have a chance.
The Knicks have one of the best starting lineups in the NBA, but not much depth behind them.
Mitchell Robinson played 16 minutes off the bench, but other than that, it was just a few minutes apiece from Miles McBride, Cam Payne and Landry Shamet. The Knicks’ starters all played at least 39 minutes in the last game, so the Pistons may be able to wear them down.
Detroit needs to keep coming at them in waves, switching out fresh players to use as defenders and maybe even a few more minutes from rookie Ron Holland II, who played well in game three.
But they can’t just throw bodies at them, the bench has to be effective and that starts with Malik Beasley, who has to start making shots for the Pistons to have a chance. He went just 2-for-10 from long range in the last game, and he has to be better, or the Pistons may have to give some of his 23 minutes to someone else.
JB Bickerstaff hasn’t gone beyond a 9-man rotation in the playoffs so far, but he may have to go a little deeper into his bench today to press the Knicks physically and try to wear them out.
The Pistons are the younger team and have more bodies to run out there, so they have to make the Knicks pay for playing their starters for 40+ minutes.
The home crowd
The crowed in Little Caeser’s Arena was elite in game three, so no complaints, and they will need to be again today.
The Knicks are a veteran team and not afraid of the moment, and they aren’t going to get rattled by a crowd, so it’s more about lifting the Pistons up. Even though they did go on some runs in game three, it was never big enough to put any distance between them and the Knicks.
Detroit will need one of those big 15-0 type runs to beat the Knicks today, and it feels like they have it in them, especially if the home crowd is giving them energy.
With a 2-1 lead, the Knicks may fold if Detroit comes out and puts a smackdown on them early, so the crowd needs to be hyped and making things difficult for New York.
A win today and the season comes down to a 3-game series, and you can be sure the Pistons and their crowd will come out with huge energy.