Pistons High / Low: Late game gaffes sink Pistons

The Detroit Pistons took the lead late in the fourth quarter after being down by as many as 15, but an ugly sequence turned a possible win into a 104-98 loss to the Boston Celtics.

To the tape!

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High

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope found Andre Drummond on three separate occasions:

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Two identical three’s by KCP late in the fourth kept the Pistons within distance:

(On a side note, I’m not sure why they kept looking to Marcus Morris “mismatched” with Marcus Smart)

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Stanley Johnson played 11 minutes and had a team high plus/minus +12.

Tobias Harris shows great patience in the face of a mismatch:

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Yes, Aron Baynes helps out Ish Smith but the fact Smith held his own to help force a turnover was not lost on mophatt1:

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With any Thibodeau principled defense, expect the big the fully help out on screens until the screened off player fully recovers.

When Kendrick Perkins only semi-commits to help, it leaves Rip Hamilton with an easy bucket.

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Low

Up one with a minute remaining, zero movement, and a hero shot:

Which led to:

Which led to Brown missing the “and one” but Marcus Smart rebounded the miss and was fouled, he hit both free throws giving them a five point possession.

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Andre Drummond did some real positive things finishing with 17 points (8-13 from the field), 15 rebounds and a pair of steals. Per usual, that’s a pretty good line. But that shot selection needs some work.

First, Dre catches a lob (albeit a bad lob) and then drifts away from the basket instead of over powering Kelly Olynyk.

Next, (where I come from, that’s a double dribble) Drummond throws up a 14 foot push shot.

A shot selection “beef” is low hanging fruit simply because every single (star) player that touches a ball is going to have a couple shots that are questionable per game. The difference, though, is that it’s not a Kobe Bryant bad shot in that he’s shooting over a triple team. He’s not utilizing his strength - literally - and that continues to be an issue.

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Out jumping in-place of boxing out still doesn’t work:

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In all honesty, the missed dunk doesn’t really move the “Low” needle for me but it certainly did on social media.

Stuff happens. Keep moving, people.

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Defending possessions after an opponents sideline/baseline play is a Detroit epidemic:

Per Synergy, the Pistons rank 29th in the league in defending possessions after a sideline out of bounds play and 25th defending the baseline.

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KCP has a full plate checking IT but there still has to be awareness of whats going on elsewhere:

Essentially, 5-foot-nothing Isaiah Thomas took out two Pistons.

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Marcus Smart makes winning plays. That’s how I would describe his game. He’s a thick, fullback-like guard who has no problem getting physical. Jackson felt it firsthand:

Makes me appreciate Smith’s iso defense.

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Jon Leuer had three turnovers on the night, these two stuck out:

I can’t believe how many times professional hoopsters step on the sideline when taking on a pass. Next, throw the ball up to Dre and let him go get it. A bounce pass?