The Detroit Pistons lost to the San Antonio Spurs, and I am supposed to act like the sky is falling. The Pistons have been exposed! They don’t have enough shooting! The “I told you so’s” were flying last night, but there were also some positive things to take away from the loss.
The Pistons and Spurs treated fans to a great game of basketball. It was physical, hard fought, had a ton of good defense, and we saw two of the best young players in the game in Cade Cunningham and Victor Wembanyama.
Neither of the stars had their best games (particularly Cade), but it felt like a playoff game, so it was a good test for the Pistons and one they can use as a learning experience.
The Pistons needed a bit of a wake-up call
I was getting a little concerned that the Pistons were having too much smoke blown up their collective rear ends over the last week or so when most pundits started putting them atop their power rankings.
That’s usually not good for a young team, especially the Pistons, who seem to thrive off being disrespected and underestimated.
The “they aren’t good enough” talk will be at fever pitch for the next day, which will only serve to motivate this team even more with tough games against OKC and Cleveland looming.
I prefer the Pistons to be the team no one believes in, as it gives them an edge that tends to sharpen their focus.
I may be reaching here, but Detroit has responded all season whenever they are doubted, and I hope this loss leads to a sharper effort against the Thunder.
The Pistons played poorly and were right in it
A lot of credit has to go to the Spurs defense, which was smothering Cade Cunningham all night, but the Pistons didn’t play their best game and have to feel as though they can beat the Spurs if they do.
Detroit handled Wembanyama in the first half and made him look mortal, and they may have unlocked something with Jalen Duren, who had 25 points and probably should have been a more featured part of the offense.
The Spurs also made 45 percent of their 3-point shots, most of them of the wide-open corner variety. Again, you have to give them credit for exploiting the Pistons defense, but I have to think Detroit will recalibrate and not give up so many easy ones the next time these two teams meet.
The Pistons, conversely, went just 7-of-36 for a pathetic 19 percent. Detroit isn’t a good 3-point shooting team, but they are not that bad, and a slight balancing of the 3-point shooting discrepancy would have drastically changed the game.
If Detroit had played their best game and still come up short, I’d be more worried, but that wasn’t close to their best game. San Antonio had a say in that, so you have to tip your cap to them on this one, but the Pistons can certainly play better, so if you want to be positive, they stuck with the Spurs for most of the game even though they had an off night.
Detroit won’t have to wait long for a chance at revenge, as they play the Spurs on the road again on March 5th.