The Detroit Pistons logged their first loss of the season against the New York Knicks, and their new-look offense sputtered for just 97 points.
You can’t get too worked up, as the Pistons started the season with four tough games, three of them on the road, and the winless Knicks were desperate for their first victory in front of their home fans.
You also have to give credit to the Knicks’ defense, as they ramped up the intensity in the second quarter and made life difficult for the Pistons.
But Detroit also fell into some bad habits that made the Knicks’ job that much easier on a night when the Pistons’ 3-point shooting abandoned them.
The Pistons’ offense went stagnant
After a red-hot start to the season behind the 3-point line, the Pistons finally cooled off and made just nine of their 37 attempts from long range. It wasn't just 3-point shooting, as the Pistons shot just 58 percent from the free-throw line, leaving behind 10 points in the process.
Detroit’s 3-point shooting can cover some warts and dry spells in the half-court offense, but when they weren’t falling last night, the Pistons didn’t have many answers past the first quarter.
Detroit’s half-court offense went stagnant, there wasn’t as much movement as we saw in the previous three games, and they resorted to some of the same issues they had last season.
Cade Cunningham was on the ball for most of the night, and early on it looked as if he was going to have an epic game, as he was getting whatever he wanted. But the Knicks clamped down, started throwing more bodies at Cade, and the Pistons didn’t have many answers on their way to just 25 combined points in the 2nd and 3rd quarters.
After being aggressive on the ball in the first two games, Ausar Thompson went back to standing around much of the night as the Knicks backed way off him and dared him to do anything with the ball.
It was eerily reminiscent of the playoffs last season, when teams backed off Ausar and forced the Pistons to play four on five. Thompson was fresh off an injury last night, so I’m not ultimately concerned, but last night was the kind of game where they really needed some on-ball creation from him and didn’t get it.
The Pistons were due for an off night, and it came against the defending champs on their home floor, a team that happened to be desperate for a win, so this is far from a catastrophe, especially with the Pistons missing two key players.
There was some offensive regression last night, but the Pistons have an immediate chance to put it right tonight against the Hornets.
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