The Detroit Pistons face the Miami Heat tonight, hoping to reverse their fortunes. The Pistons are currently experiencing a low point in their season. Despite a recent winning record, serious observers recognise underlying issues that need resolving quickly.
Their task is made harder by facing a Miami Heat team that has won seven of their last nine games.
Cunningham’s Potential Return
The Pistons have not yet released an injury report, but there is hope that Cade Cunningham could play after missing the Brooklyn game. Detroit needs its MVP candidate back in the lineup. Without Cunningham running the show, the offense is too dysfunctional with too few playmakers. Daniss Jenkins has regressed as a scorer. While he tries his best to facilitate and put pressure on defences, there is a wide chasm between what he can bring and what you can expect on a nightly basis from Cunningham.
Heat’s Offensive Power
The Heat have improved lately and are a finely tuned offensive machine. The team sports a top-5 offense in its past 10 games because it is getting to the free-throw line, moving the ball to create high-quality perimeter looks, and capitalising on transition opportunities to score easily.
In that span, both Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro are averaging a team-leading 21.9 points per game. Herro is hitting better than 44% from deep and averaging better than 5 assists per night, while Adebayo is playing stellar defence and adding 10 boards per game. The Heat rank 10th on the season in 3-point percentage, but several players beyond Herro are riding hot streaks that are helping fuel Miami’s potent offense. Andrew Wiggins is hitting 41% of his attempts, and Davion Mitchell (53%) and Kel’el Ware (37.5%) are expanding out in more limited attempts.
Keys to a Pistons Victory
Detroit needs to take the defensive side of the ball seriously. This is especially true of Jalen Duren, who needs to not only help contain Heat bigs who can be dangerous, but help provide a second line of defence against Herro and others, as Ausar Thompson might miss tonight’s matchup with an ankle sprain.
We also need to see Cunningham do Cunningham things. His shot has been off for a bit, the turnovers have crept up, and the team can’t afford for him to play at anything less than his All-Star level. Finally, can we get a “revenge” game from Duncan Robinson? Robinson has one game of hitting more than three of his three pointers in the past month. Perhaps he can find a spark facing his former team?
The game tips off at 6 p.m. ET at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida.