Chris Silva notes how effective the offense has been in today's Free Press:
Saunders isn't completely surprised how efficient the offense has been in the first six games. They lead the league in field-goal percentage (48.6%), and that's a credit to making the extra pass, which has usually led to more uncontested shots and less poor shot selections. The Pistons have averaged 24.3 assists a game, third-best in the league.
That got me thinking about some of the other rankings. Well, through six games, the Pistons are tied for fifth by averaging 100.7 points per game. Has the defense suffered? Not yet: Detroit still features the league's best defense, giving up just 87.7 points per game. Not surprisingly, that's also resulted in a league-best +13.0 point differential.
Digging even deeper, the Pistons rank second in the league by shooting .431 from beyond the three-point arc, and they're tied with Minnesota by holding opponents to a league-low .263 from three-point land. On a per-game basis, the Pistons have committed the second-fewest personal fouls in the league, and they've had the second-fewest personal fouls committed against them. They've also turned the ball over the third-fewest times, but they rank just 22nd in the league in forcing turnovers.
With just six games in the books, I don't put too much stock into any of these rankings just yet. Obviously, the Pistons are going to play solid defense all year, but I'm not sure they can average more than 100 points and allow the fewest points in the league at the same time. But hey, on a slow news day in the midst of a winning streak, it's fun to look at the numbers a little bit.
Pistons Corner [Detroit Free Press]
Sortable Team Stats [NBA.com]