Opponent Scouting: Indiana Pacers. (22-42)
Tonight at 7:00pm EST the Detroit Pistons will be hosting the Indiana Pacers at LCA. The Pistons are on the second night of a back to back after beating the Raptors in Toronto, while the Pacers are on one night of rest after beating the Magic in Orlando.
The Them:
The Pacers are a team that started off the season with ambitions but things haven’t gone quite to plan and so they finally have initiated a soft rebuild after several years of being pretty good. The good news for the Pacers is that soft rebuild came with the help of an awesome trade that netted them Tyrese Haliburton and Buddy Hield for Domantas Sabonis.
The Pacers are missing a LONG list of players. Rookie Chris Duarte, T.J. McConnell, Ricky Rubio (who was already out for the season when they got him back for Caris LeVert), Myles Turner, and T.J. Warren. Lance Stephenson, yes that Lance Stephenson, is listed as probable for the game tonight.
They come into the game with the 18th ranked offensive efficiency and the 25th defensive efficiency, although with all the roster shakeup and injuries it’s hard to take too much stock in the ratings of the team.
For the players still here and suiting up. Malcolm Brogdon is still the man running the show. He does everything on the offensive end. His scoring efficiency is down a bit courtesy of a down-year shooting from deep, but he is still excellent. The newly arrived Haliburton and Hield are both averaging 20 per game in the 8 games since arriving and both guys are shooting well. Haliburton is also averaging nearly 10 assists per game since arriving, oh don’t worry about that sound its just kings fans wailing in sorrow, so the three give them a defensively questionable but offensively potent trio. Beyond those three it is pretty bleak for the Pacers right now. Oshae Brissett can shoot a bit, Isaiah Jackson and Jalen Smith are tall. Lance Stephenson is playing off the bench. Pretty sure Terry Taylor is an undrafted rookie who has played respectably when he’s gotten in.
The top three guys are a genuine danger, everything else is highly suspect.
Matchups to watch:
Pistons vs. Energy: Not only did the Pistons play last night but it was a close game down to the wire against a packed Raptors house. A letdown in energy and focus is very much in play.
Bench vs. Bench: Since moving Killian to the bench there has been some good and some not good overall. However, the Pacers bench is a tire fire so that needs to be a place where the Pistons do some damage tonight.
Pistons vs. The Pacers trio: I word it like this because it’s hard to know who will be matched up with who. Theoretically, Jerami Grant will be up for the task against whoever he gets. Cade will have a challenge and Cory Joseph is probably fish food tonight. Might be a night to play Joseph minimally because I can’t see him holding up against any of Brogdon, Haliburton, or Hield.
Refs vs. Please: I am not quick to blame the refs. There are some things that Cade Cunningham can do to draw more contact and get to the line. The whistle he’s gotten (or lack thereof) is absolutely criminal.
Pistons vs. Foul trouble: Pretty straightforward. The Pistons have had issues with committing fouls themselves lately, especially Isaiah Stewart.
Beef Stew vs. Whatever: The Pacers have nothing but question marks in their front-court. Stewart and Olynyk need to make some things happen.
Pistons vs. Building momentum: This doesn’t mean much in the wider picture, but this season has been so miserable that collecting a few wins has been nice. And they are not in any real danger of damaging their draft prospects yet.
So in conclusion…
Run for the hills if:
“Haliburton goes right by Joseph again”
The Pistons look gassed
Killian Hayes scores 0 points
Wink knowingly at your friends if:
The Pistons front-court is mashing.
The Pistons trio gets whatever they want against a soft defensive squad
The Pistons win.
Opportunities for me to look stupid:
The Pistons are slow out of the gate but get into as the game goes
Many points are scored by both teams
Pistons win