Three points are more than two, a painful fact the Detroit Pistons found out the hard way in last night’s loss to the Celtics.
It’s not the end of the world, we knew the Pistons would eventually lose a game, so resist the urge to crash out or read too much into it, as Detroit just ran into a team that suddenly got hot from the 3-point line. It happens.
The Pistons dominated the points in the paint as usual, though Boston did a good job of slowing down Jalen Duren, who looked primed for a huge night. They swarmed him with smaller players and were able to hold him to just 12 points without a real NBA center.
The difference in the game was the 3-point shooting, as the Celtics hit 20-of-43 from downtown and the Pistons made just 11 of their 36 attempts, which completely offset their advantages in the paint and at the free-throw line.
Some of it you can just chalk up to a bad night, as Jaden Ivey, who is clearly still shaking off the rust after being out for almost a year, missed all five of his attempts and Tobias Harris missed all but one of his five shots from 3-point range. Normally, one or two of those go in, and the Pistons win the game.
But the 3-point shooting is a concern, especially when you look at possible playoff matchups for the Pistons.
Detroit Pistons: 3-point shooting vs. Points in the paint
The Pistons’ lack of 3-point shooting was apparent last night, as the Celtics were just packing the paint and pretty much daring anyone other than Duncan Robinson and Cade Cunningham to shoot it.
They were happy to let Ivey and Ausar Thompson fire away, were backing way off Ron Holland, and it worked, as these guys ran into walls of defenders when they tried to attack the rim.
The Pistons are 27th in the league in 3-point makes per game, a number that has to get better as the season progresses, as they will be playing prolific 3-point shooting teams, and on nights like last night, when they get hot, the Pistons’ paint production isn’t always going to be enough.
Of the top 10 teams in 3-point makes per game this season, seven of them are in the Eastern Conference, including the Cavaliers, Bucks, Knicks, Celtics and Bulls, teams the Pistons may eventually have to face in the playoffs.
The Pistons aren’t going to change their style and will continue to rely on their defense, paint dominance and fast break points, but we’ve seen that all of the above teams can get hot from 3-point range and run just about anyone off the floor.
The Pistons will get some internal improvement as Jaden Ivey ramps up but if they can’t get enough 3-point production from their own roster, it’s something we could see them address at the trade deadline.