The Detroit Pistons lost to the Sacramento Kings last night, their fourth loss in their last five games.
The Pistons have already clinched and will be either the 5th or 6th seed depending on what happens in the last three games, two of which are against the Bucks, the team they are chasing in the standings.
Detroit has had nagging injuries and is in a tough part of the schedule, but there are some concerns piling up as the playoffs get closer. It’s not time to panic yet but it would be nice to see the Pistons turn some of these things around before the postseason begins.
Health
Detroit isn’t deep enough to withstand even a single injury to a starter, regardless of who that starter is. They did get Cade Cunningham back (and he looked good last night), so there has been some relief.
Tobias Harris is still out, which has to be worrying for the Pistons, as he is the glue guy in the starting five.
As good as Dennis Schroder has been off the bench, if he’s in the starting five in the playoffs, the Pistons are in real trouble.
They need to get everyone back and soon.
Defense
Over the last five games, the Pistons have had a defensive rating of 118.7, far worse than their season mark of 112.8, which is another reason to be concerned.
They were unable to even slow Zach LaVine down last night as he DeMar DeRozan torched them for 80 combined points and the Pistons didn’t have an answer.
This has to be worrying to a team that has relied on defense to make their offense go, as they can’t get out and run if they don’t get stops and they have not been getting them of late.
Games slow down in the playoffs and teams exploit mismatches even more aggressively, so the Pistons are going to have to figure out how to get stops on the perimeter and how to hide some of their lesser individual defenders.
Points in the Paint
The Pistons have lived in the paint this season, as they are in the top five of both points in the paint scored and allowed.
They’ve been outscored in this area in four of the last five games, the only exception being the win over Toronto.
This is directly related to the poor defense, as they aren’t getting any easy buckets off run outs or early transition offense.
Malik Beasley
We know Beasley is a streaky shooter, though he’s been much steadier this season. But right now, he is in a funk that the Pistons need him out of, as he’s shooting just 31 percent from long range over his last five games.
Beasley’s points are vital to the Pistons’ offense and to their overall spacing, so they need to get him going before the playoffs start, as they don’t stand much of a chance if he’s not getting buckets.
His importance to the Pistons’ attack is one of the main reasons Beasley should win 6th Man of the Year, and also the reason Detroit needs him to heat up.