Every team in the NBA runs some version of the pick-and-roll, and there is no team in the league better at stopping it than the Detroit Pistons.
The Pistons have the league’s 2nd-best defensive rating just behind OKC, and the gap between the Pistons and the 3rd-place Spurs is bigger than between San Antonio and the 10th-place Heat, so OKC and Detroit have separated themselves from the pack.
The Pistons have been even better over their last 20 games, with a defensive rating of just 106 and in the last 10 games they are at 102.
In the last 20 games, they’ve held opponents to 105 points or fewer 11 times, and six of those they held them under 100 points, so the recipe for Pistons’ success is clear, and their defense gives them a chance to win every night, even when shots aren’t falling, as we saw in the last game in Denver.
A lot of this success has to do with the Pistons blowing up the pick-and-roll, and they have three duos that are among the best in the league at doing it, including one that is on the verge of shattering the record books.
Jalen Duren and Ausar Thompson against the pick-and-roll
According to the All-NBA podcast, Ausar Thompson and Jalen Duren are allowing just .622 points per pick defended, which is not only tops in the NBA this season, but the best since people have started tracking this stat.
A lot of this is Thompson, who is better at going over screens than just about anyone in the league. He’s able to stay glued to the ball handler, which makes it tough to even execute a clean screen against him.
But Duren has also improved at hedging these picks, as well as switching when necessary, so teams are unable to attack him as they were at times last year.
But it’s not just Ausar and Duren, as the Pistons have two other duos in the top seven, including Duren/Cade Cunningham and Ron Holland II/Isaiah Stewart.
The Pistons come at the pick-and-roll in waves, and these numbers show quantifiable improvement for Cunningham and Duren to go along with the eye test that says they’ve both turned into above average defenders.
Pick-and-roll defense isn’t everything of course, but the play is a big part of NBA offenses, and the Pistons are making it far more difficult for teams to get good looks out of their favorite sets.
The defense just keeps improving and should lead to the Pistons having more than one player on the All-Defensive team this season.