The Detroit Pistons played much better in the second half against the Celtics last night and held on for a close victory, but they weren’t helped by their free-throw shooting, which has been a problem all season.
Looking at social media today, you’d think the Pistons lost last night because all I saw was negativity, and a lot of it was pointed at Ausar Thompson, who went just 1-of-7 from the line. The Celtics were daring Thompson to shoot it all night, and when he did drive, they were happy to foul him to put him on the line, where he shoots just 52 percent for the season.
Thompson is an easy scapegoat, as his shot is not pretty, but the poor free-throw shooting is a team-wide problem, one that will eventually kill the Pistons in close games.
Detroit Pistons: Closing out games is hard when you can’t make free throws
The Pistons are 28th in the NBA In free-throw percentage, hitting just 74.8 percent as a team. The problem isn’t getting there, as the Pistons are drawing a ton of fouls and shoot the 2nd-most free throws per game in the NBA this season.
When you are shooting a ton of free throw and not even hitting three-quarters of them, you are leaving a ton of points at the line, which the Pistons do in almost every game.
They are missing around seven free throws per game on average and enjoy a scoring margin of +6.3 on the season, so you can do the math here. These missing free throws are preventing them from a lot of double-digit victories and allowing teams to hang in the game.
The Pistons only have four players who are shooting above 80 percent in Cade Cunningham, Tobias Harris, Jaden Ivey and Ron Holland II.
Here’s hoping that Jaden Ivey’s team-leading 88 percent is real, but he’s never even shot 75 percent in a season prior, so it’s possible he’ll come back to earth when he is playing more and attempting more than 1.5 free throws per game.
Even the normally reliable Duncan Robinson, who is an 86 percent free throw shooter for his career and has had several seasons over 90 percent, is hitting only 78 percent right now, so whatever it is might be contagious.
Cade Cunningham and Tobias Harris are both over 80 percent, but barely, as both are shooting 83 percent, which would be the lowest of Cade’s career and the lowest for Harris in over a decade.
The Pistons are winning games, so we can’t complain too much, but when fans wonder why they don’t blow more teams out when they have the chance, missed free throws are a part of the problem, as they allow teams to stop the clock and gain ground when the player misses one or more of them.
Some of this is just guys getting back to their norms, but some of it is concerning, as the Pistons are playing plenty of close games and these misses are going to come back to haunt them at some point, and already did in the frustrating loss to Boston earlier this season.
Great teams have to be able to put teams away, which means making the easy ones and not giving opponents a clear strategy to get back in the game.