In the trenches of last season, the idea of the Detroit Pistons being in the playoffs seemed like a far-off dream.
But after one of the biggest turnarounds in NBA history, the Pistons are currently sitting in the 6th seed with a five-game cushion between them and Miami.
Dare to dream, folks
The Pistons still have plenty of work to do to get there, but the fact that we are talking about the potential of playoff basketball is already a win for a fanbase that had long been tortured.
The turnaround has been fast in the standings and on the court.
The Pistons on the fast break
Anyone who has watched the Pistons this season knows that they are at their best when they play fast.
Detroit loves to play disruptive defense and get out in transition off stops and turnovers, which has led to an exciting brand of basketball that can build big leads in a hurry.
But they’ve struggled in another area that will be more important if the Pistons do make the playoffs.
The Detroit Pistons’ half-court offense
The Pistons live off fast-break points and points in the paint, as they are 2nd in the NBA in fast-break points per game and 6th when it comes to points in the paint.
The two are connected, as run-outs usually lead to better shots, whether they are dunks in the paint, or wide-open looks from long range.
It’s led to the Pistons being 11th in the NBA in FG percentage, a big leap up from last season, when they were 22nd in the league.
A big part of this is the shooters they have added, but Detroit is also getting better shots, not settling for 3-point attempts and trying to dominate in the paint, with Cade Cunningham living in the lane to get his own shot or set up lobs.
The Pistons are just 19th in 3-point attempts per game and 19th in makes, which is better than last year, but Detroit is still not an elite shooting team when they aren’t getting easy ones.
And those are tougher to come by in the playoffs, when the games usually slow down and teams play more of it in the half court.
The Pistons are in the bottom half of the league when it comes to points per possession in the half court, and when you look at that stat, the top teams are all ones that have either won titles recently or are trying to get there.
The top five teams in order are Boston, Cleveland, Denver, New York and Oklahoma City, arguably the five best teams in the league.
Creating turnovers and transition opportunities will always be a positive, but you have to be able to get it done in the half court as well, which is something the Pistons struggled with in last night’s game against the Clippers.
We’ve seen that with more regularity as teams increasingly try to double or trap Cade Cunningham and force someone else to beat them.
This focus only increases in the playoffs, when teams have more times to scout and prep for their opponent and learn their habits over several games.
It’s something to watch in the last quarter of the season, as the Pistons need to show they can score when the game slows down and not just when they are rolling in transition.