Tonight at 7:30pm EST the Detroit Pistons will be on the road to face the Heat of Miami. This is the season opener for both teams.
The Them:
The Miami Heat may have failed to acquire Damian Lillard but they remain largely the same team that had one of the most inexplicable runs to the NBA finals in the history of the league. I have not yet seen a set in stone injury report but supposedly swing-man Caleb Martin will be out as well as possibly Josh Richardson. Tyler Herro missed some preseason time but is expected to play. If any of this ends up being wrong sue me no one gives clear injury reports before the season starts.
The Heat are led by Jimmy Butler, who has never put up monster numbers (even if still very good numbers) in regular season play but has done enough in the playoffs at this point to have a pretty impeccable resume as a genuine superstar. Butler isn’t as destructive defensively as he once was but he’s a bully going to the hoop, draws tons of fouls, takes and makes tough shots, and has every intangible you could hope for. The nearly traded Tyler Herro is a dynamite scorer with real passing chops, Kyle Lowry may be on his last legs as an NBA player but he’s still a wily-smart veteran who makes winning plays on both ends of the floor. Bam Adebayo remains one of the league’s most un-sung superstars, perhaps the best defender in the league, and a multi-faceted offensive player who can create for himself and others. Duncan Robinson found some juice back last season and remains one of the league’s scariest shooters from deep and while he isn’t very good on defense he isn’t quite as bad as some playoff series would suggest. Kevin Love remains here and while his fall from once mighty player has continued he still spaces the floor and passes the ball effectively. The athletic dunker Thomas Bryant is in Miami as well and Bryant can potentially core in bunches as a big man but has struggled at most of the other aspects of the position. Some people think Nikola Jovic is going to be good.
Most of all the Heat feature the best coach in basketball; Eric Spoelstra. This group of guys with this coaching is a tough group that will never be easy to handle. They may be sluggish at times offensively, but they will always bring the sort of effort and smarts that are challenging.
Matchups to watch:
Pistons Injuries: Just cause I feel like its important to put it first in case someone hasn’t seen it. Bojan is officially out for at least a month or so and Monte Morris a little bit less. This sucks not only because both are useful players but also because we won’t see as clear a picture of what the Pistons are hoping for in the long term with the rotation. (for instance its far more defensively to keep playing Stew at the 4 when Bojan and Livers are both out).
Cade vs. Getting into higher gear: Cade wasn’t terrible in preseason. He shot really poorly from the field but facilitated, shot well from deep, and was mostly fine. But he wasn’t good enough, and often seemed to be in cruise control. We heard a lot of big things about Cade this Summer and its time for him to show it was legit. The lineups he’s stuck with don’t help but I want to see him come out aggressive and effective.
Ausar Thompson vs. Jimmy Butler: I am assuming that this will be a matchup for tonight, and it should be fun. Ausar won’t back down from anyone and Jimmy is the type to take that personally enough to bring some fire. In addition, Jimmy Butler is something close to the ideal outcome of Thompson which is also fun.
Duren vs. Adebayo: Most nights of the year Adebayo is Miami’s best player and Duren struggled in his rookie year with bigs who could do stuff away from the hoop. So we will see a chance for Duren to show his offseason effort right away.
Isaiah Stewart vs. Hitting Shots: Not much to say. He shot awfully in preseason despite constantly being wide-open. That can’t keep happening.
Bench Mobs: With a couple of injuries the Heat don’t have a ton of depth, with that in mind a Jaden Ivey-led bench could possibly do some good work on the scoreboard and may end up being key for the Pistons if they are going to win.
Run for the hills if:
Jimmy Butler is completely overpowering Ausar every possession.
One of the white guys starts hitting 3s
“And beef Stew finally gets one to fall! He’s now 1-11 from deep!”
Cackle with knowing glee if:
Cade is getting buckets from the start
The Pistons bench gets rolling
The Heat look old
Opportunities for me to look stupid:
The Heat look old
The Pistons bench soundly wins their minutes
Cade looks good but it still isn’t the breakout we would like
The Heat look old and injured and young Pistons team jumps on them
Pistons 112 - Heat 105