The Pistons had one of their worst losses of the season Wednesday night against the Bucks, and it was all thanks to the Bucks' zone defense. By running a 2-3 zone, the Bucks took advantage of the Pistons' lack of shooting without Duncan Robinson. It was a glaring reminder of the Pistons' weaknesses and proved that they can be exploited with the right defensive effort.
The Pistons offense struggled against zone
The loss was even more frustrating because Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo exited the game after just 3 minutes. He's been in trade rumors recently, and the Pistons could even get involved, but his departure should have signaled an easy win for the Pistons. Instead, the team allowed the Bucks to climb back from an 18-point hole and win a close game.
Once the Bucks went into a zone, the Pistons' usually deadly pick-and-roll attack was neutralized. Multiple defenders keyed in on the main action, which forced turnovers when the Pistons dribbled into traffic. As a result, many of the Pistons looked passive and settled for semi-open threes rather than attacking the rim as usual.
The Pistons ended the game with 43 three-point attempts, 12 more than their season average. It's ok to shoot a lot of threes when you're getting good looks and they're falling, but that wasn't the case in this game. The Pistons shot just 33% from downtown, and the only reliable shooter was Tobias Harris.
Another important impact of the zone defense was limiting Cade Cunningham's dominance. The young star guard did not look like much of a star against the threat of Milwaukee's multiple defensive bodies. Instead, he was very passive and settled for 7 threes (only making one of them) while scoring a pedestrian 17 points.
In a game where Cade should have taken over to put the game out of reach, the Bucks forced him into his most uncomfortable spots by helping off weak shooters in the zone. They were fine with allowing corner threes to the likes of Ron Holland II and even Caris Levert (1-of-8) in this game. Throwing Cade and the Pistons' go-to actions out of rhythm was the main goal, and the Bucks accomplished just that.
The Pistons are still on top of the East with a 17-5 record, but this is the type of poor game that could have major ramifications going forward. Other teams can watch this game and get a perfect gameplan for disrupting the Pistons, especially while Robinson remains sidelined with an ankle sprain. The rest of the NBA is sure to follow suit so the Pistons must find better ways to beat the zone.