Who would have thought we would be at must-win game territory in the 1 vs 8 matchup for the Pistons, but we have pretty much reached that point. The series obviously isn’t over if the Pistons go down 0-2, but losing both home games and still having the home playoff losing streak hanging over your head will make it very difficult to pull out a win in this series, even if the Magic are the 8 seed.
Everything went wrong for the Pistons in Game 1, which if you are looking for any positives, means that
things probably can’t go much worse in game 2. The Pistons looked like a team that had a week off from playing while the Orlando Magic looked like a well-oiled machine that has already played two playoff-level games.
Obviously, the number one seed has the advantage being a better team, but I can’t help but think a long layoff while the team you are facing plays a couple of games is all that helpful for hitting the ground running. But, the Thunder, Spurs, and Celtics all had easy wins in game 1, so that is probably just an excuse.
Whatever the case is, the Pistons have no excuse but to win this game and head to Orlando tied 1-1.
Game Vitals
Where: Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, MI
When: Wednesday, April 22 at 7 pm EST
Watch: ESPN
Odds: Pistons (-9.5)
Analysis
Many fans are ready to hit the panic button after game 1. The national media has had all of their concerns about the Pistons confirmed. There is absolutely no way they win this series.
We have heard it all at this point and after the Pistons’ performance in Game 1 it is hard to say it isn’t justified. But, I will attempt to not be all doom-and-gloom about that performance.
For starters, I think the Pistons probably played one of their worst games of the season. They have games where shots aren’t falling or the other team has a hot hand, but Sunday’s game was the perfect storm of bad play all-around. The Orlando Magic were ready for the challenge and punched the Pistons in the mouth.
They dominated the glass, won the turnover battle, shut down their fast break game, outscored the Pistons inside, and shot 9% better from the field. When they needed to hit big shots in the 4th quarter, the Magic made every single one. Many of the things the Magic beat the Pistons in during Game 1 are things that the Pistons have dominated during the regular season.
The Orlando Magic are uniquely built to be able to compete with the Pistons in those categories, but to win every single one is something I cannot foresee happening again. The Magic won the game by only 11 points despite dominating in every aspect that matters to the Pistons. They didn’t outshoot the Pistons from beyond the arc, they just outhustled the Pistons.
If the Pistons get back to their bread-and-butter, they can still take control of this series.
If there is something to be concerned about, it is the play of Jalen Duren. So much of the Pistons ability to dominate inside is because Jalen Duren is a physical presence that can outmuscle even the strongest centers. He only took 4 shots in game 1 as the Magic packed the paint and forced the Pistons to beat them outside. The Magic basically let Cade Cunningham get whatever he wanted to shutdown Duren and leave the unreliable outside shooters open. It worked in Game 1, but I think it could be playing with fire if that is their gameplan for the whole series.
Duren also looked lost on defense and was put in bad spots trying to cover for blow-bys allowed by the Point of Attack defense.
If the Pistons POA defense improves, Jalen Duren is able to stay at the basket more and that hopefully helps with some of the easy baskets Orlando got from the Pistons’ being out-of-place on defense. The Pistons defense looked nothing like it has all season. It has been a well-oiled machine that is elite at generating turnovers that lead to offense and both of those elements were not there on Sunday. Whether it be due to the layoff or just a bad game, the Pistons will need to get back to both in Game 2.
No more zone, no more players being out-of-place, and do a better job on the fast break whenever you do generate turnovers. That was a pretty glaring weakness in Game 1. Normally, the Pistons are unselfish on the fast break and score a lot of points because of it, but too many players tried to do it all themselves on the few fast breaks they got.
This series could very well come down to who can make more outside shots given how evenly matched these two teams are at scoring and physicality. But, if the Pistons can get back to their usual fast break offense off of turnovers, that can give them enough of an advantage to win the series.
As I said, so much went wrong on Sunday that I am not even sure you can properly analyze whether Orlando is just a better team built to match every advantage the Pistons have or if it was just an absolutely poor showing by a team ill-prepared for Game 1.
Whatever the case is, Game 2 needs to be much better by everybody on the team outside of Cade Cunningham. He did his job by scoring 39 points and keeping the offense afloat in the 4th quarter, but he also missed some reads he normally doesn’t miss and had assists taken off the board by the failure to hit outside shots.
If the Pistons fail to adjust to the physicality of the Magic and continue to miss the open shots they are allowing, Game 2 could go the same way as Game 1. If the Pistons head back to Orlando down 0-2, the 1st round upset of the Pistons that everybody was predicted would be done by the Charlotte Hornets, may actually be done by the Orlando Magic.
Lineups
Detroit Pistons (0-1): Cade Cunningham, Duncan Robinson, Ausar Thompson, Tobias Harris, Jalen Duren
Orlando Magic (1-0): Jalen Suggs, Desmond Bane, Franz Wagner, Paolo Banchero, Wendell Carter Jr.
Question of the Day
Was Game 1 just a bad performance by the Pistons are a big reason for concern?
