FAST BREAKDOWN
Three quick observations from Saturday night’s 99-96 loss to the Washington Wizards at Capital One Arena
TURNOVER TROUBLE – The thing Dwane Casey wanted most from the Pistons in the preseason finale? Cut down on their turnovers. Even in winning two of their first three games, the Pistons had averaged 21.7 turnovers for the preseason. Then they coughed it up 10 times in Saturday night’s first quarter and 15 times in the first half in falling behind by 14 points. It wasn’t just that the turnovers cost them shots, either, though the Wizards got off 12 more shots than the Pistons in rolling to a 63-49 halftime lead on their way to the win. It was that they were almost all live-ball turnovers with Washington recording 13 first-half steals. But Casey had to like the way the Pistons responded after halftime, when they committed only two turnovers in the third quarter and got back in the game, trailing by seven headed to the fourth and tying the game with seven minutes left. The Wizards got back-to-back threes at that point from Jerome Robinson and Troy Brown and the Pistons never caught up. Washington wound up getting 24 points off of 20 Pistons turnovers.
STANDING PAT – Dwane Casey said before the game that he wasn’t looking to try any new wrinkles for the preseason finale and, sure enough, the starting lineup stayed the same and the rotation followed the same general blueprint as the first three games. Casey started the same group and employed the same second unit and rotation pattern for the most part. Probably the most significant difference was using Delon Wright at point guard for the final six minutes of the first half. It was the first time Wright, whose spent most of his NBA career at point guard, played the point for the Pistons. Rookie Killian Hayes knocked down 2 of 3 3-pointers and scored seven points in the game’s first eight minutes. Casey let Hayes close out a tight game and he finished with 11 points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals in 21 minutes.
TOP SURPRISE – You could make a strong case that the most pleasant showing of the Pistons preseason came from Josh Jackson, a fourth-year player signed to a low-risk free-agent contract for two years. Jackson played his third straight strong game, giving the Pistons 13 points, eight rebounds, two steals, an assist and a blocked shot in 22 minutes. Despite missing his last three 3-point tries, Jackson hit 3 of 7 from the arc and has made 9 of 16 while scoring 39 points over the last three games. Jackson, the No. 4 pick in the 2017 draft, is known foremost for his defensive prowess and he was a stand out at that end, too, but if he rebounds and scores efficiently like he has so far he’s going to emerge as a key piece off the bench and put himself in the running for crunch-time minutes.
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December 20, 2020 at 09:30AM
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Pistons dig first-half hole with turnovers, can’t catch up in dropping preseason finale - Pistons.com
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