The Pistons’ first loss of the season brought a jarring reminder of how quickly an offense can lose its edge when the outside shots stop falling.
Detroit managed only 97 points in an ugly defeat to the New York Knicks, and the script changed fast after a strong start to the season built around hot 3-point shooting. This was the Pistons’ first loss, and while the schedule offered some built-in difficulty - four tough games to open the year, three of them on the road - the Knicks also came in with urgency, still winless and desperate for their first victory in front of their home fans.
New York deserves plenty of the credit. The Knicks turned up the defensive pressure in the second quarter and made everything feel harder for Detroit from that point on. But the Pistons also made the night easier than it needed to be, drifting into the same kinds of issues that have dogged them before.
The biggest culprit was the offense drying up. Detroit hit only nine of 37 shots from deep after opening the season on a tear from long range.
That alone was a problem, but the damage didn’t stop there. The Pistons also shot just 58 percent at the free-throw line, leaving 10 points on the table.
When the 3s aren’t going down, Detroit still has to find a way to survive in the half court. That wasn’t happening once the first quarter passed.
The ball stopped moving as much, the offense got stuck, and the flow the Pistons had shown in their previous three games disappeared. The result was a familiar kind of slowdown that looked a lot like last season’s version of the team.
Cade Cunningham still set the tone for much of the night, and early on it seemed like he might be headed for a monster performance. He was getting to his spots and finding what he wanted.
Then the Knicks adjusted, crowded him with extra bodies, and Detroit never really solved the problem. By the end of the second and third quarters, the Pistons had combined for just 25 points.
Ausar Thompson’s night also mirrored a frustrating old pattern. After being more aggressive with the ball in the first two games, he spent much of this one standing around while New York sagged off him and challenged him to create.
That kind of look was painfully familiar from the playoffs last season, when opponents backed off Thompson and made Detroit function with essentially four active players on offense. Coming off an injury, Thompson’s performance is not something to overreact to, but in a game like this, the Pistons badly needed him to provide some on-ball creation and didn’t get it.
Even so, this wasn’t the kind of loss that changes the bigger picture. Detroit ran into a tough spot against the defending champs on their own floor, and the Pistons were also missing two key players. An off night was bound to show up eventually.
Now they get a quick chance to clean it up tonight against the Hornets.
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