Shockingly bad and suprisingly good stats for the Detroit Pistons

It hasn’t been easy for Detroit this season. There were decent expectations this year, and the Detroit Pistons have fallen flat on their face thus far. From getting a healthy Cade Cunningham back, to adding a second year of development for starters Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren, there were good reasons to feel optimistic. Yet the Pistons are amid one of the largest skids in team history. So let’s take a look at Detroit by the numbers this season and where they stand against the rest of the league.

Comparing the Pistons to the rest of the league

Sitting at the bottom of the league, record-wise, Detroit is now last in the NBA at just 2-15. The Pistons claimed that unwanted throne after what can only be summed up as the saddest game of the year, losing to the lowly Washington Wizards.

Part of the reason that the Pistons are amid one of the worst losing streaks in franchise history is their team stats. Detroit is averaging 109.8 points, good for 25th in the league, on 46.4 percent from the field. That percentage ranks as 22nd in the league, making Detroit’s offense well below average. From deep, Detroit attempts the league’s fewest three-point shots with just 28.5 per game, which makes their 29th-ranked 3-pointers made of 10.1 make sense. Detroit is 25th in the league in 3-point percentage after a hot start. Finally, Detroit is also second to last in the NBA in turnovers per game with a shocking 17.3. 

While those numbers are truly terrible, it’s not all doom and gloom in Detroit. The Pistons rank in the top 10 in rebounding, assists, and blocked shots. While this is greatly helped by rookie star Ausar Thompson, the hustle stats are there even if the shooting and overall defense are not.

But how are individual Pistons faring?

In terms of individual player stats, Detroit does not fare much better. Joel Embiid currently leads the league in ppg with 32.1 and a Detroit starter doesn’t make an appearance on the list until Cade Cunningham at 29th with 22 ppg.

Similar to the overall team stats, Ausar Thompson carries the positive stats here as well. Leading the league in rebounding is Nikola Jokic with 13.4 rebounds per game. Ausar, a 6-foot-6 wing comes in at 13th overall with 9.8 rpg. That’s better than the likes of Victor Wembanyama, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Chet Holmgren. The same goes for blocks per game. Thompson is 9th in the NBA with 1.8 blocks per game. Additionally, to round out the individual stats for Detroit, Cade clocks in at 8th in league assists per game with 7.1, compared to Tyrese Haliburton’s league-leading 12.1 apg. 

One final stat I found interesting is comparing lineup combinations. Detroit’s best lineup is the combination of Isaiah Livers, Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, Jalen Duren, and Ausar Thompson with a +/- of 9. This would be 36th out of 2,000 qualified lineups. There are obviously flaws with ranking strictly on +/-, especially with such a small sample size, but interesting nonetheless. 

It’s now up to the front office to rectify these numbers. Whether they can be corrected with the Pistons' current roster, or if some moves need to be made. It’s up to Troy Weaver and company to right this ship. We will see.