The first-round series between the Detroit Pistons and New York Knicks has been a bit of a throwback.
The games have been physical and low scoring, with two old-school coaches relying on their starters for big minutes and using defense as their primary weapon.
This has worked both for and against the Pistons, a young team that likes to run and are at their best when they are playing fast. Detroit has struggled at times in the half court and to their credit, the Knicks have played stifling defense and made everything difficult.
But Detroit has also been able to do the same to New York, particularly in the 4th quarter of game five, when the pace slowed and the Pistons did a great job of switching and rotating to make the Knicks take tough contested shots.
We know the Pistons would like to run more, as it’s been their modus operandi all season, but it’s also something they have to be prepared for from New York.
The Knicks will try to play faster against the Pistons in game 6
Points in the playoffs are tough to come by, especially when the other team gets a chance to set their defense.
Both the Pistons and Knicks would prefer to get shots earlier in the shot clock to avoid iso situations that lead to difficult shots.
Detroit has been better at this so far, as 26.5 percent of New York’s shot attempts have come with seven seconds or fewer on the shot clock, which is 4th-worst in the playoffs.
This has been especially true for the Pistons starting lineup, which has an elite defensive rating as a unit in this series.
The Knicks aren’t going to make sweeping adjustments to their rotation or minutes, but they will try to play faster in game six and get more of their shots earlier in the clock.
The Pistons have to continue to grind it out in the halfcourt, to force Jalen Brunson to overdribble and make the Knicks to take shots with the shot clock running out. We’ve seen New York try to get Karl-Anthony Towns 3-point shots in transition as a trailer and the Pistons should expect more of that tonight.
New York will also attack the rim more in transition, as Josh Hart did effectively a few times in game five. The Pistons have to sprint back on every possession, find their man, set their defense and make the Knicks work.
It will be a war of attrition tonight, as both teams looked gassed at times in game five, so the more Detroit can make them work, the better.
The Knicks played well in Detroit, so the Pistons must be ready for them to come out fast and try to avoid their set defense.