These 4 things will decide if the Pistons survive

As good as the Cleveland Cavaliers have been at home, it’s not hyperbole to say tonight’s game in Detroit is a must-win for the Pistons with the series even at two games each. 

The Pistons can take some solace in the fact that they played poorly in both games in Cleveland still hung in the games (outside of the start of the 3rd quarter in game four, yikes), so if they do a few things better, they can easily take game five and have a chance to close out the series. 

Tonight is all about survival for the Pistons and there are four things that have to change. 

The Pistons have to limit the Cavaliers’ guards 

Donovan Mitchell and James Harden scored a combined 67 points in the last game, mostly due to Mitchell’s 43, but Harden made 5-of-9 from 3-point range and many of them were wide-open attempts. 

The Pistons allowed Harden to get going early with a few easy 3’s, so they have to make his life more difficult as they did in the first two games in Detroit. The Pistons can survive a big night from Mitchell (maybe not 43 points again), but they can’t also allow Harden to get easy looks as well. 

Detroit has to end the soul-crushing turnovers 

It’s not just the sheer number of turnovers the Pistons had in Cleveland, but the timing of them, as the Pistons have shot themselves in the foot repeatedly at the worst times.

You can live with turnovers that are the result of aggression or plays that just didn’t work out. The Pistons run a lot, and that speed will sometimes bite them, fine. But they can’t have the casual turnovers, the ropey cross court passes, the soft ones out of double teams, and most importantly, they can’t do it at crucial times in the game. 

Detroit has killed its own rallies so many times in this series with bad turnovers. They had a ton of them in game four but were still winning at half time, so cut those out and they can cruise. 

The Pistons have to win the whistle 

We’ve talked a lot about the whistle in this series and for good reason, as the Pistons were into historical free throw disparity in the last game. 

Detroit has to be able to defend aggressively without fouling, but that’s on them if the refs are calling it tight, as the Pistons didn’t adjust to the whistle in Cleveland, and it cost them at the line. 

I have a feeling the Pistons will get more calls tonight, and they have to cash them in at the free throw line while keeping the Cavaliers off it. If Harden and Mitchell are going to make tough shots in the paint, fine, but the Pistons can’t compound it with cheap fouls. 

The young players have to embrace the home court 

The Pistons may be dealing with injuries to the starting five tonight, so it will be an all hands on deck affair, and they will need their young guys to step up. 

Young players usually struggle on the road in the playoffs, but they are back in Detroit tonight, and the Pistons will need Jalen Duren, Ausar Thompson, Isaiah Stewart, Daniss Jenkins and Ron Holland to play better at home. 

These are players who will get the crowd into it, especially Duren, as everyone knows he is struggling, so the crowd will roar if he gets a few thunderous dunks early on. 

The Pistons need to forget what happened in Cleveland and remember why they played their butts off to win 60 games this season, which was to get home court. Now they just have to defend it. 

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow