Opponent Scouting: Atlanta Hawks (3-1)
This will be a quickie given that the Pistons just played the Hawks.
The game is once again at LCA and tipoff is 7:00pm EST.
Matchups to watch:
Pistons vs. Fouling: Trae Young largely got to the line at will last time around and it was a huge reason why the pistons gave up a ton of points despite playing more sound team defense than other games. Need to cut down on that tonight.
Cade vs. Getting to the hoop: Cunningham had a solid outing on Wednesday, but he ended up with an inefficient night largely because he largely took jumpers. The continued presence of Isaiah Stewart makes it problematic but he needs to try harder to force his way to the hoop.
Pistons front line vs. Bowing up: Other than Duren, the Pistons current front-court options are some combination of undersized and unathletic which was troublesome on Wednesday. The Pistons can’t magically make themselves taller or bouncier but they can get more physical to keep Hawks players off their spots. And really this isn’t just the Pistons front-court, its everyone. Each player needs to focus on boxing out every posession.
Pistons vs. Defensive repeat: Despite the number of points given up, I felt like the Pistons team defense was far better on Wednesday, giving up less blatantly open looks on obvious mistakes. It’d be nice if they can start stringing those outings together.
So in conclusion…
Run for the hills if:
“and another trip to the line for Young”
The Pistons are relying on jump shots.
Kevin Knox steps on the floor
Wink knowingly at your friends if:
Cade is getting to the hoop
Stew suddenly hits a couple of threes in a row
Killian Hayes has the defensive energy he found late on Wednesday
Opportunities for me to look stupid:
Cade doesn’t have a huge numbers night but has his first genuinely efficient game of the year
Bojan has some regression and misses a bunch of threes
Trae Young still torches the Pistons
Pistons ride a team effort to victory
Pistons 113 - Hawks 109