The Detroit Pistons have been a bad 3-point shooting team for most of the season but appear to be getting hot at just the right time.
All year we’ve heard about how the Pistons will eventually be undone by their poor shooting, as they are just 19th in the league in 3-point percentage and 28th in 3-point makes per game.
They’ve been able to make up for it by dominating the paint on both ends, playing elite defense and simply bullying teams into submission. Some feel that won’t work in the playoffs, though it seems to me that the teams that rely heavily on 3-point shooting are the ones with a greater chance to fall apart under the big lights.
The “Detroit doesn’t have enough shooting” narrative is going to continue until the Pistons win a playoff series or two, but recently they’ve been putting that concern to rest.
The Pistons shooting well as the playoffs approach
The Detroit Pistons have been heating up from long range of late, as they are shooting just under 38 percent as a team in March and April, which is good for 6th in the league in that span.
Detroit is still going to shoot fewer of them than their opponent on most nights, but if they are hitting a decent clip, it won’t matter, as the Pistons dominate in the paint by so much that they really only have to hang around in the 3-point column.
Detroit doesn't force the 3-point shot but takes what is given to them, and when the open ones are going in, it changes everything.
What those shots do is keep the defense honest, as right now, teams want to pile into the paint against Detroit and try to force their shooters to beat them. Lately that strategy hasn’t worked, as the Pistons have been hitting their 3’s as a team, with just about everyone getting involved.
When that happens, they are very tough to beat, as Detroit generally dominates the points in the paint and fast break points.
Teams will continue to double Cade Cunningham in the playoffs, so if his teammates are hitting shots, it makes this strategy more difficult and forces teams to choose their poison.
Cunningham is perfectly willing to defer if they want to leave his teammates open, and the Pistons are far more dangerous offensively when the ball is moving and everyone is getting involved.
It’s a fairly small sample size, but the Pistons have quietly been shooting the ball well for over a month, and if that carries on in the playoffs, they are going to make a deep run.