Ben Wallace made a career protecting the rim and is one of the best to ever do it, which was made even more impressive by the fact that he is only 6-foot-9 and was defending giants. The 2025-26 Pistons aren’t yet at that level, but they’ve been doing their best Ben Wallace impersonation so far in the young season.
That’s no easy feat, as Wallace was a four-time Defensive Player of the Year, largely on his ability to protect the rim. He averaged two blocks per game for his career but averaged over three on three different occasions and led the league in 2001-2 with a staggering 3.5 per game on his way to his first DPOY award.
There’s not going to be another Ben Wallace, but the Pistons are doing their best to remake him in the aggregate.
Detroit Pistons: Best rim protectors in the NBA
The Pistons are leading the NBA in blocked shots per game and getting them from just about everyone. Isaiah Stewart continues to be one of the league’s best rim protectors and added another four last night. He’s averaging two per game on the season, a career high.
Jalen Duren is getting 1.5 swats per game, also a career high, but Tobias Harris, Ausar Thompson and Cade Cunningham have also been getting involved. Cade is averaging a block per game to go along with 1.2 steals, so is evolving into a true two-way superstar.
The Pistons currently lead the NBA in defensive field goal percentage at the rim, allowing just 52.2 percent for their opponents, which is seven percent better than the next closest team.
It’s led to a dominant advantage in points in the paint for the Pistons who are +18 per game on average in that category this season. They are scoring 58 points in the paint per game, which is tops in the NBA, while allowing just 40, which is good for 4th-best in the NBA.
This has been huge, as the Pistons haven’t shot the ball well from long range (just 18th in the league in percentage) and are just 26th in the NBA in 3-point shots made per game.
But they’ve been making up for it by dominating at the rim on both ends and getting a ton of second-chance points off offensive rebounds (4th in the NBA) and also getting to the line at the 4th-highest rate in the league.
This is Detroit basketball, built on defense, toughness and dominating in the paint. Who needs shooting?