All summer we heard about how much better the Eastern Conference had gotten and how the Detroit Pistons had not done enough to keep up. Sure.
The Pistons were once again overlooked (not by this Homer) in favor of the teams that made flashier additions in the offseason, and so far, they’ve dispatched three of them even though they’ve been missing two starters for half of it.
It’s still very early, but the Pistons’ early wins did expose that some of the top teams in the East have flaws.
The Boston Celtics can’t get into the paint
The Pistons fell behind by 22 points to the Celtics before roaring back, and since taking the lead in the first game, Detroit has not trailed once.
The Celtics can run any team off the floor when their 3-point shots are falling, but when they’re not, they don’t have much else. Boston needs Jayson Tatum to be an absolute superstar every night, and when he isn’t, they are beatable, which the Pistons showed in game one.
I was impressed with Boston’s defense at times, and their shooting is always dangerous, but all of their eggs are in that 3-point basket.
The Miami Heat have no depth or shooting
I picked Miami to miss the playoffs this season even after adding Giannis, mostly because they don’t have much else behind him and Bam Adebayo.
If 36-year-old Klay Thompson is your starter, you’re in trouble, as I’m not sure he could guard me right now and has started the season with a 150 defensive rating, or roughly what the Generals used to put up against the Harlem Globetrotters.
The Heat also lack shooting, so are easy enough to defend by just packing the lane and letting them fire away. Giannis might average 35 a game this year, but Miami doesn’t have enough behind him to be a real threat in the East yet.
The 76ers need a backup center
The Pistons caught the 76ers on the second game of a back-to-back and their 4th in five days, so didn’t have to face Joel Embiid.
Philly fans should get used to it, as Embiid isn’t going to play back-to-backs, which means either LeBron or Adem Bona starting at center. As good as LeBron is, he’s no center, and the Pistons owned the boards last night even though they were missing a starting center of their own.
Embiid has looked good in his games so far, but when he’s not in there, Philly will struggle to hang on the boards with anyone.
It’s still too early to write any of these teams off of course, or to declare the Pistons the class of the East, but all of these teams have bigger flaws and question marks than Detroit does right now.
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