The Detroit Pistons should only have one word on their minds as they enter game five tonight: Survive.
There is no tomorrow if they lose, so the Pistons have to get it done any way they can if they want another home game in front of their deserving fans.
It’s unlikely JB Bickerstaff is going to make huge changes to his rotation. He’s not going to throw Marcus Sasser into the fire or bring in Simone Fontecchio, so the Pistons will live or die with the group that has carried them all season.
That includes Jalen Duren, who has had an up and down series with more downs than ups. He has predictably struggled against Karl-Anthony Towns, which has forced the Pistons to mark the Knicks’ center with Tobias Harris.
Duren had 17 boards and a couple of big blocks in game four, but he was a –17 on the night, by far the worst on the team and it was even worse when Ausar Thompson was not on the floor with him.
JB Bickerstaff may be hesitant to use new players, but he might find different ways to deploy the ones he does play.
The Detroit Pistons may have to go small
Not having Isaiah Stewart in this series has been a killer, there’s no way around it. He is the perfect defensive prototype to at least slow KAT, as he can protect the rim but also chase him around effectively on the perimeter, something Jalen Duren and Paul Reed have been unable to do.
The Pistons can live with KAT taking contested fadeaways from the mid-range, but what they can’t live with is him shooting uncontested 3-point shots. He was five of seven in game four and both Duren and Reed were caught out with poor contests on trailer 3-point makes from Towns.
The Knicks are tougher to defend when Towns is hitting shots and running pick-and-roll on the perimeter, so the Pistons could counter by going small and luring him into the paint for post-ups.
We could see some of Ausar Thompson at the four tonight, which will hopefully limit Towns on the perimeter, where he absolutely killed the Pistons in game four.
This would also allow Detroit more opportunities to run off stops and to have more offense on the floor, as Duren just hasn’t provided much on that end so far in the series. He’s been ineffective as a screener, as the Knicks have done a good job forcing the action further away from the rim, making Duren’s rolls useless and just drawing another defender to Cade Cunningham.
The Pistons have not taken advantage of this, and even when Cade has gotten the ball to Duren in space out of the double team, he’s been too far away from the basket to do much with it.
The Pistons need someone in that spot who can shoot a jumper or make the right read to punish the Knicks for doubling Cade. The Knicks have been able to use KAT as a second defender with impunity as they are happy to let Duren or anyone else try to create in space.
The Pistons obviously can’t go small for the entire game, as they need Duren’s rebounding, but JB Bickerstaff should deploy some small-ball lineups tonight without a center on the floor to force the Knicks away from their preferred spots.
Everything is on the table in an elimination game, and I hope coach Bickerstaff tries to force the action against the Knicks.