The Detroit Pistons are defying the modern NBA blueprint - and winning while doing it.
In a league increasingly obsessed with the 3-point shot, the Pistons are sitting atop the Eastern Conference with a 32-11 record, five games clear of the next-best team. And they’re doing it without leaning heavily on the long ball.
Detroit ranks 27th in 3-point attempts per game (32) and 21st in 3-point percentage (35%). Yet here they are, leading the East.
That’s not a fluke - it’s a credit to their elite defense, relentless transition game, and a team identity that’s built around toughness, not trends.
But every system has its cracks, and on Friday night, those cracks showed.
The Pistons dropped a 111-104 home game to the Houston Rockets, snapping a four-game win streak. And the culprit?
A cold shooting night from deep. Detroit hit just 7-of-32 from beyond the arc - a rough 21.9% - in what was one of their worst perimeter shooting performances of the season.
Combine that with a rare defensive letdown in the second half, and the Rockets took full advantage, outscoring Detroit and building a lead as large as 14.
Head coach J.B. Bickerstaff didn’t sugarcoat it after the game.
“Things to work on,” he said. “Understanding how this team played us, where our spacing needs to be and then how we take advantage of it. And continuing to share the ball and generate the looks that we’re looking for, no matter if they’re going in or not, you’ve gotta play the right way.”
That last part matters. The Pistons have been playing the right way - they’ve built a system that works for them.
But even Bickerstaff knows they’re not a finished product yet. And as the Feb. 5 trade deadline approaches, there’s one glaring area for improvement: outside shooting.
Let’s be clear - Detroit isn’t helpless from deep. But the numbers paint a story of inconsistency.
They’re 7-5 when shooting under 30% from three, and 9-6 when they make fewer than 10 threes. That’s 11 of their 15 losses tied to poor perimeter shooting.
Flip the script, and they’re 23-5 when they hit at least 10 threes. When the shots fall, they’re nearly unstoppable.
When they don’t, things get dicey.
Duncan Robinson has been doing the heavy lifting from beyond the arc. He went 2-for-8 against Houston, but on the season, he’s drilling 40.3% of his threes and has already knocked down 120 - putting him on pace for 229 makes, which would rank second in franchise history behind only Malik Beasley’s 319 last season.
Cade Cunningham is next with 70 makes, though he’s shooting just 32.1%. Javonte Green is third with 48, hitting at a respectable 36.6%.
That’s a steep drop-off after Robinson. And it’s why the Pistons’ front office has some decisions to make.
The good news? They’ve got the assets.
All of their first-round picks for the next seven years are intact, plus a stash of second-rounders and a $14.3 million trade exception - a valuable tool that allows them to absorb a contract without sending matching salary back. That kind of flexibility opens the door for a range of moves, from minor tweaks to a more aggressive swing.
But urgency might not be the driving force here. This team is ahead of schedule, on pace to become just the third Pistons squad in history to hit the 60-win mark.
That’s no small feat. Still, if there’s a move to be made, especially one that adds reliable shooting without disrupting the team’s defensive identity, it’s worth exploring.
Detroit’s defense has been the backbone of its success. With a 108.5 defensive rating - second-best in the league - they’ve made life miserable for opponents by forcing turnovers at a high clip (17.4 per game, second in the NBA).
That fuels their transition game, where they rank among the league leaders in fastbreak points and points in the paint. But when that defense slips, like it did in the second half against Houston (62.9% shooting allowed), the offense stalls.
Without the stops, there’s no runway to run.
“We weren’t playing to our identity,” Jalen Duren said postgame. “I don’t think it’s nothing that they did, it was just us.
We shot ourselves in the foot. Lack of energy-wise, that wasn’t Pistons basketball.”
That kind of self-awareness is a good sign. This is a team that knows who they are - and who they’re trying to become.
Bickerstaff echoed that sentiment, giving credit to Houston’s defense while acknowledging his team still has room to grow.
“They’re big, they’re athletic, they’re physical, they fight through screens, they switch a lot of screens which is typically where you can create your advantages,” he said. “Those are things we’ll go back and we’ll work on and use tonight to get better from.”
The Pistons don’t need to reinvent themselves. But as the deadline approaches, adding a shooter or two could be the difference between a strong regular season and a deep playoff run.
They’ve already proven they can win without the three. But if they can start hitting it more consistently? That’s a scary thought for the rest of the league.