After winning Game 7 against the Pistons, Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson gave a shoutout to Ausar Thompson:
“The tactical adjustment we made was avoiding Thompson….if he’s near the ball, throw it to someone else.”
Kenny Atkinson on the Cavs' adjustments:
— Underdog NBA (@UnderdogNBA) May 18, 2026
"The tactical adjustment we made was avoiding [Ausar] Thompson. We were just like, if he's near the ball, throw it to someone else." pic.twitter.com/jEcjGg4tkj
Even though Thompson has his fair share of offensive limitations, his defensive impact was felt throughout the series. Hearing such praise from a seasoned head coach just further cements Thompson’s place within the Pistons’ future plans.
Ausar Thompson is a game-changer for Detroit
Thompson’s defensive havoc completely forced the Cavaliers to change their gameplan. Unfortunately for the Pistons, the Cavs still had enough versatility across their roster to win the series while avoiding Thompson. At the end of the day, Thompson could only do so much to make up for poor defense from his teammates and offensive woes for all.
Ausar Thompson was able to perform one of the most important tasks a defender can possibly manage: take away an offensive engine completely. Throughout the series, both Donovan Mitchell and James Harden struggled to get easy baskets, either for themselves or others, when Thompson guarded them.
However, the combination of those two along with the Cavaliers’ supporting cast managed enough offense to beat the offensively-challenged Pistons. Cleveland was lucky to have two great guards to lead their offense, along with role players who knew how to extend advantages.
Thompson still managed to disrupt some plays even when the ball went away from him. He averaged 12 steals and 9 blocks across the series, many on dazzling weak side plays. But even he couldn’t be in two places at once, so either Mitchell or Harden often got favorable matchups when both shared the floor.
The Pistons need to improve their defense around Thompson
Despite having one of the top defenses in the regular season, the Pistons looked flawed in many positions during the playoffs. Their rim protection and defensive rebounding from the center position fell apart against the Cavaliers’ talented big men. And some of their perimeter defenders also proved incapable of staying in front of Cleveland’s star guards.
Those players held their own in the regular season, but couldn’t keep up against better teams in the playoffs. As the Cavaliers showed, a team with enough playmakers can also game plan around Thompson. So the Pistons must do more this offseason to improve their whole team defense rather than relying on Thompson to fix everything.
Ausar Thompson has things to improve himself but one thing is clear: his defense is absolutely world-class and already a factor in the playoffs. The Pistons need to build on his advantage by adding better defenders around him. All the remaining playoff teams have multiple great defenders to create a sustained team effort.
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