The Detroit Pistons were able to force a game six in Orlando on Friday, but if they want their series to go beyond that, they have one obvious task, which is to quit turning over the damn ball.
JB Bickerstaff was asked how the Pistons were able to fix their turnover problems in game five and Bickerstaff simply responded, “we just passed the ball to our team instead of theirs.”
Sometimes it’s not more complicated than that, though I’d take exception to the idea that the Pistons “solved” their turnover problem considering they still had 17 of them in game five.
But JB did a couple of things last night that helped reduce the burden on Cade Cunningham, who has been the primary culprit when it comes to turnovers.
Coach Bickerstaff is playing Cunningham in shorter stints
Last night, Stan Van Gundy correctly pointed out that coach Bickerstaff was running Cade in shorter stints, at least in the first three quarters.
Cunningham was still noticeably fatigued by the end of the game and still played 44 minutes, but coach Bickerstaff was able to get him some extra rest a few times by subbing him around timeouts.
Most of the rest Cade did get was in the first half, so he had more in the legs down the stretch, which showed in his shooting, especially from beyond the arc.
It was a small but important adjustment from coach Bickerstaff and one I hope we see again, as Cunningham was able to be more impactful late in the game.
Cunningham played more off the ball
Ausar Thompson, who was spectacular last night, led the Pistons in assists, as coach Bickerstaff had Cade playing more off the ball in another attempt to reduce his usage and wear and tear.
Cunningham also got rid of the ball quickly when the doubles came and forced Orlando to scramble, often leaving open shooters. It would help if the Pistons could shoot, but they were mostly getting the shots they wanted last night with Franz Wagner on the bench in street clothes.
Winning possession means winning the game
The Pistons have a LONG way to go to even force a game seven, so I’m not even going to talk about the idea of winning the series.
But to even have a snowball’s chance, they will need to win the possession battle, which means cutting out the turnovers. As JB said, “pass it to our team, not theirs” and Detroit has a good chance to at least force another game.
Orlando is shooting horribly in this series, so if the Pistons can just reduce their extra shots by taking care of the ball and closing out possessions on the glass, they’ll be in good shape.
JB Bickerstaff has simplified his message for good reason, as turnovers are the one thing the Pistons can’t have if they want to stay in this series.
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