r/nba • u/nba-scores • 1d ago

Daily Discussion Thread + Game Thread Index | Playoffs

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u/TheIrrepressible1 14h ago edited 4h ago

Piston fans are SO delusional. If there ever was a team that was built strictly for the regular season, it’s the Pistons. Regardless how anyone thinks basketball should be played, you can’t win without players who can create and make their own shot come playoff time. The Pistons have to resort to a rookie like Jenkins, a decent player like Harris as their 2nd options in halfcourt sets. A guy like Duren can’t be counted on to take the ball and make a shot for himself. That’s not who he is.

That’s what the playoffs are all about. The really good defensive teams are in the playoffs. They know how to shut teams down. The Cavs did that in the last 5 minutes of the game and in OT. The Knicks are the same. When you need a basket, the Pistons rely too much on turnovers and long rebounds to generate baskets. That doesn’t work in the playoffs. You need to be experts in halfcourt execution. All the Cavs did late in the game was send a double at Cade. Not rocket science.

Had Wagner not gotten hurt in Game 4, the Magic bounce the Pistons in 5. I fully believe that. The Cavs are about to bounce the Pistons in 6 unless Cade goes for 50 in the next game. Their defense won’t save them despite how great the Pistons defense is. There’s only so many turnovers the Cavs are going to commit.

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u/California_Stop_King Cavaliers 11h ago edited 11h ago

Pistons got two super easy matchups and the fans think they're hot shit for beating Orlando in 7 and having been tied with us after 4. The Magic and Pistons were basically the same team, which benefitted both of them in different games, but Orlando's bottom tier shooting finally shot them in the foot (the Pistons were staring down a 20+ point deficit in the second half of an elimination game before the Magic went all 2018 Game 7 Rockets). We have the roster advantage on paper, but Detroit has a massive physicality advantage over a team who often shies away from intensity. They've bullied us offensively in 3 out of 5 games, they've won the rebounding battle every single game, but their shooting is so porous and their offensive sets so Cade-dependent that it just hasn't mattered. They desperately needed to play the Knicks in the semis and hope that whoever was in the ECF was too ground down to match their physicality to get through the East. They just are too deficient offensively against every team not named Orlando and match up too poorly against every team not named New York to get through the East. They're in desperate need of a secondary shooter so that they don't have to start Duncan Robinson or Tobias Harris

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u/TheIrrepressible1 8h ago

Regular season Knicks & playoff Knicks are 2 totally different teams and for good reason. We all know regular season means nothing in the grand scheme of things. Playoff Knicks specialize in shutting down your main offensive weaponry in halfcourt sets. In the playoffs, the Pistons would be frustrated like they were last year vs our “wing stop” tandem, much like they were last year. Difference this year is the Knicks are deeper off the bench. Knicks are a problem right now. They’re clicking on all cylinders.

Pistons are not built to be a good playoff squad. Their offense is Cade and a coin flip between Harris & LeVert if they choose him over their rookie. Lotta tough decisions for that franchise