The Detroit Pistons went on a 23-0 run in the 4th quarter to bury the Boston Celtics in the first game of the season, a stretch that put a bandage on some large warts.
The Pistons used a combination of defensive energy, fast break buckets and streaky 3-point shooting to overwhelm the Celtics, but there were times in the game where the offense was flat-out ugly, especially when the game slowed down.
There was little movement, Cade Cunningham was dribbling into traffic in a crowded paint, which did bring about a “here we go again” feeling, as the offense was stagnant and a familiar question immediately came to mind.
Who is the Pistons second scorer?
Like I said, here we go again. I am so sick of talking about this issue, but it’s going to be a focus until it is solved.
The Pistons’ half-court offense was abysmal in the 2nd and 3rd quarters, and we saw flashes of the team that struggled to score in those situations in the playoffs last season.
There wasn’t much movement, Cade was dribbling too much, and the Celtics were barely even defending Ausar Thompson.
The Pistons got huge nights from Duncan Robinson and Javonte Green, but many of their shots came from defense, broken plays and early transition. Detroit got back into the game with their defense but never executed well in the half court consistently.
Part of this is working new players into the rotation, but part of it is the same problem the Pistons have long faced, which is how to create offense when Cade Cunningham is getting swarmed.
Detroit can win a lot of regular season games this way, but when it comes to the playoffs, they may still be over reliant on their defense to create offense and will need to show that they can execute and get quality looks in the half court consistently.
The new look Pistons are better equipped to bail themselves out of a jam
The good news is even though the half-court offense struggled, the Pistons still won against a very good team and were able to do it in a more balanced fashion, with a big chunk of it coming with Cunningham on the bench.
The Pistons launched 40 shots from 3-point range, 10 more than they averaged last season and hit 38 percent of them. The Celtics are the team known for their 3-point shooting, but the Pistons were able to keep pace.
They dominated the boards and points in the paint as usual, so this was a more balanced shot diet for the Pistons, and eventually it was the 3-point shooting that saved them.
The Pistons still have questions in the half court and are still looking for the second guy behind Cade Cunningham, but they have more wiggle room if they continue to take and make more 3-point shots however they can get them.
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