news

Pistons don’t have a finishing touch yet, but it’s at least a start

Vaseline October 24, 2024

Detroit – Starting over is easy.

Finishing what you start is always the hardest part.

So if we can learn anything from the Pistons’ season opener Wednesday night — 115-109 against the Indiana Pacers — the end is probably where it begins.

A deflating finish in the fourth quarter reminded everyone in Little Caesars Arena which team on the field played in the Eastern Conference finals last spring and which team finished with a league-worst 14 wins. And while that gap has certainly been closed, thanks to a new front office, a new coaching staff and a strengthened roster, Wednesday’s result still left the Pistons wanting.

“Yeah, I thought it was a great start for us, and I thought our intensity was there tonight,” said Jaden Ivey, who finished with 17 points in the loss. “It’s just that we have to perform better. There are things we need to clean up. Obviously this is a playoff team and they have played tough games. And we have to match their level of execution.”

They just couldn’t do that on Wednesday night. The Pistons led by a dozen early in the second half in this game, and they held an eight-point lead in the fourth quarter thanks in large part to Cade Cunningham’s 18-point explosion in the third. But it all fell apart from there on both ends of the floor, and Tyrese Haliburton’s three-point dagger with 21 seconds left put the finishing touches on the Pacers comeback win.

“I mean, they’re a good basketball team with a lot of experience,” Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “They are a well-coached team and they have found rhythm in their pick-and-roll game.”

More: 76ers’ Embiid criticized for sitting out opener as part of health plan to reach playoffs

They also found a way to exploit some of the Pistons’ defensive shortcomings in the second half, especially with a center in Myles Turner who is just as comfortable at the top of the key as he is under the basket. Turner, who finished with 20 points and nine rebounds, knocked down three straight 3-pointers early in the third quarter as Detroit’s young big Jalen Duren struggled to close him down.

“With their ability to space the floor with the five of them, and the individual guys that can create, they make it difficult,” Bickerstaff said.

But the Pistons made things harder for themselves along the way, as Cunningham noted.

“I think it was just our offense,” he said of the struggling fourth quarter, when the Pistons shot 5-for-20 from the field. “It’s hard to play transition defense all the time. Turning the ball over, not getting quality shots. It’s hard to get stops when the defense isn’t set. I mean, our defense was great when our defense was on edge.”

Hard lessons learned

Yet some hard lessons were also learned there. Like the fastbreak dunk, Pascal Siakam simply got Duren in transition with just over 2 minutes left to make it 108-102 for the visitors.

“But last year they were the No. 2 offense in the NBA, or something like that,” Bickerstaff said of the Pacers, who shot nearly 60 percent from the field in the second half on Wednesday. “Like, they are Good on the offensive end of the floor. For us, we just have to keep punching. I thought we did very well in that first half. But again, in the second half they outsmarted us.”

However, there was plenty to encourage about this opener. A spirited effort from the opening tip felt like the best piece of team defense we’ve seen from the Pistons in years. In the first four minutes, Detroit’s starters limited the Pacers to 1-for-6 shooting with two turnovers, taking an early 12-4 lead.

The three new signings – Tobias Harris, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Malik Beasley – all also provided a spark in the first quarter, accounting for 19 of the Pistons’ 31 points. Harris looked strong defensively against Siakam, Hardaway knocked down a pair of 3-pointers and Beasley went 3-for-3 from the field, including a three of his own. Duren was active in the paint and aggressive on the boards. Even rookie Ron Holland provided a spark off the bench. And the fact that the Pistons built a commanding halftime lead while Cunningham went just 1-for-8 from the field felt strangely encouraging.

That was even more the case when Cunningham took over the game after halftime and looked every bit the All-Star that Pistons fans hope he will be this season. He went 8-for-9 in the quarter, including a step-back from 3 before the buzzer that brought the crowd to its feet.

“I mean, that’s who he is,” Bickerstaff said. “He is one of the top talents in our league. He has the ability to stay with it and keep going like he did tonight. And we will need that from him all year long.”

They’re going to have to show all that – the ability to stick with it and get to work – if this rebuild is finally going to gain any traction here. But the early signs are positive, from the defense we saw in the preseason to the intensity the Pistons showed for most of this opener.

“They’re not potentially a harder team to beat, them Are a tougher team to beat,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said, pointing to the additions of those veteran shooters, among other things.

But they’re still a team that will be beaten more often than not, at least early on, as Bickerstaff figures out his rotation and a retooled roster gets comfortable in a new system. The schedule won’t do them any favors either, with six straight games against playoff teams scheduled, including a back-to-back against Cleveland and Boston this weekend.

Yet this was certainly not a flop for an opening act.

“The energy was great, the physicality was great, the communication and execution – all those things were at a very high level,” Bickerstaff said. “But this is one of those things that we’re getting better at, understanding how to put together a half, how to put together three-quarters, four-quarters. … However, the will is there. So I’m happy with what we did tonight and where we came from.”

Although, the finish? That’s still a long way off.

[email protected]

@JohnNiyo