Pistons vs Indiana Pacers

Game Breakdown

*Special Situations*

• I apologize for getting this one out so late. We traveled a bit for Thanksgiving to spend with a good friend and catch the Chiefs game in person and just got back Saturday evening. I hope all of you had a fun and relaxing Holiday with family and friends

• 9:00 2nd quarter the Pacers cut the lead to 3 after a GREAT start, can Detroit immediately respond???

  • SICK ATO from JB!!!

    • Cade gives up and gets back, Duren sets weakside off ball screen BUT quickly slips and catches the Pacers

    • IMPORTANT!!!: Having a shooter like THJ coming off that screen is what makes the play

  • Cade weakside rotation steal and dump off to Holland in transition

  • They immediately forced a Pacers Timeout AND THEN they got a stop and 2 points after the Indiana timeout

  • THIS is the type of response you need during the middle portions of games

• Start of 2nd half they are up 10 and it would be great to see them immediately steal momentum and push this lead into the teens

  • Force 1 REALLY TOUGH make and get 1 stop that are backed by Ivey 3PMs

  • Pacers have 2 makes to the Pistons 3 but I would say Detroit is generating better, and easier, looks than Indiana which is always a good sign for the rest of the half

  • Eventually they force a JB timeout…..and he draws up a really nice ATO vs….ZONE!!!

    • Love that he anticipated this (or had a man AND zone play) and got Harris a wide open corner C&S 3PM

    • Extend the lead to 16 out of this

• Pacers cut this thing to 12 in the 4th and this is where Detroit has not been good in past games, push the lead back close to 20 or you are going to have a game down to the wire

  • HUGE shot from Cade off the bounce AND after those bad turnovers that let the Pacers run happen

  • Mathurin matches, big time shot!

  • Another TO (Harris on sideline) but get a stop and then Cade gets downhill and finishes

    • While some of the TOs have happened in isolation tonight we have also seen his ability to create for himself in isolation

  • Harris with a great stop on Siakam but stalled out possession and TO leads to Siakam transition layup

  • Harris side step 3PM on a scrambled possession and as the shot clock was going down might prove to be the biggest shot of the game extending the lead back to 15!

  • McConnell layup so think about if he misses that shot

    • Lead is down to 10 and ALL of the momentum with Indiana

  • Ivey stop and steal followed by Beasley cutting layup ATO essentially should ice this game

Pistons

• Cade, Ivey, THJ, Harris, Duren

  • How exciting will Tuesday night be with a chance to win their group in the NBA Cup and make it to the knockout stage!!??

  • LOVE the first action of the game that is zoom action for Cade to get downhill

    • Creates advantage as well but Cade gets blocked from behind

  • Cade-Harris ball screen actions isn’t something I feel like we have seen a lot of so far but they have gone to it early and effectively

  • :45 2nd quarter is a PERFECT example of how Cade-Ivey can work together

    • Out front, Ivey “ghost” screen on Cade and gets the catch, his man is recovering so he immediately attacks the closeout middle, forces help FROM…..CADE’S MAN and gets Cade a wide open C&S 3PA (misses)

  • They have gotten some nice off the ball cut buckets tonight, not sure we have seen much of this so far this year

  • DEFENSIVE ADJUSTMENT

    • They have Duren playing above the level of the screen (I call this “hard hedge”) on the Hali-Turner ball screens

    • 7:50 2nd quarter you see what has to happen with rotating from the weakside to the PnP (they played “drop” coverage)

      • Two defenders rotation which then forces Duren to rotate out to a shooter in the corner and he just gets their late (shot is missed)

  • When was the last time this team had multiple defenders to guard Haliburton (Ivey, Ausar, Holland) AND someone to at least match up physically with a Pascal Siakam???

  • FULLY HEALTHY ROTATION will be fun to track

    • Beasley for Ivey, Stew for Duren, Ausar for THJ, Fontecchio for Harris

    • Ivey comes back for Cade and then a minute or so later Holland comes in for Ausar

    • Ausar and Holland seem to be getting staggered in a similar way that Cade and Ivey are

    • Ausar-Stew seemed to be paired in terms of entering the game

  • See the late quarter offensive sub pay off again at the end of the 3rd as Cade gets a bucket

• DUREN Grab and Go are okay BUT he is going to have be more efficient with the finishes if they are going to lead to no pass possessions like his first one of the game

  • Transition chase down blocks! Yes, please!

  • And then rotation block in early offense a couple possessions later

    • Has another one in the 4th quarter!!

  • If nothing else defensively, he has been SO MUCH MORE active protecting the rim in these types of situations

  • Love seeing him post up a mismatch, doesn’t get a bucket but fouled and 2 FTMs

• HARRIS mid post isolations continue to draw double teams which do get the team good looks

  • Pass out, swing, swing to Ivey in the corner who misses BUT opens up OREB

  • GET THE JUMPER UP, UP TOBIAS (so flat right now)

• CADE first 3PM is something I love seeing

  • Designed action for him, defender goes under, he HAS to stop and pop just like he does

  • We have seen him use his dribble moves to create separation more and more

    • Dropping the defender and hitting the 3P is an awesome highlight but truly “highlights” the growth throughout the 4 years where we just didn’t see that stuff quite as much

    • Now, he gets ripped once or twice a game BUT I don’t think it’s cuz his handle is “loose”....I think he is just too careless when defenders get up in him sometimes

  • Defensive playmaking is shining through again

• THJ seems to be pretty aggressive inside the 3P line over the past few games

  • Really just the Memphis game and the first bucket of this one

  • 3PM 1st quarter is a ridiculous make!!

    • Catches the ball on his left side, never brings it down, never puts in his shooting pocket, just right into his jumper

  • Awesome on ball possession vs Mathurin, had forced an offensive foul navigating a screen in the 1st half

    • Continues to give as much effort as possible on this end

• BEASLEY has been very active defensively to start the night

  • That’s elite verticality for a guard on Mathurin late in the 2nd quarter in transition

  • 4th in the NBA in 3PM after his first make of this game

  • Follows up with a corner C&S 3PM, has absolutely been the ELITE floor spacer they had hoped he would be when they signed him

  • He is one of the best bench scorers in the NBA at the 1/4 point of the season

    • I don’t think you can have the 6MOTY conversation without at least mentioning his name

• IVEY with an awesome move 3:30 1st quarter

  • Immediately gets downhill on the catch and gets the defender moving with that speed BUT able to decelerate, give the little chicken wing, and stop for the floater as the defender (Walker) keeps flying by

  • Follows this up with a TOUGH finish through Turner

  • His defense was really good in the 1st quarter

    • Defending Haliburton and McConnell

    • Feel like this was an all game thing

  • This has been a heck of a 1st half from him on both ends of the court

  • The C&S 3PM continues to look good

    • And then hits one off the dribble that lets you know he is feeling good

• HOLLAND with an awesome on ball rep vs Mathurin

  • The jumper HAS to get better BUT the drive 9:30 2nd quarter is a nice option until it gets there

    • Catched and IMMEDIATELY (this is vital) attacks downhill and then shows off some nice footwork playing off two feet

• STEW struggling a bit defensively to start

  • Gave up an open PnP 3PA (missed by Turner) and then blow by to McConnell trying to play at the level

• AUSAR first 2 corner 3PAs are very short

  • The follow through looks okay but didn’t look like everything from the feet up was connected and fluid on those 2 attempts

  • What a clutch and CONFIDENT bucket after missing those 2

    • Calmly hits the 3rd attempt when Indiana was making a mini run to get themselves back in it

Pacers

• Haliburton, Jackson, Mathurin, Siakam, Turner

  • They have been really good at that early transition post position and kick ahead pass

• JACKSON taking the Cade matchup which is huge for this starting lineup so Hali or Mathurin don’t have to

  • Beautiful recovery block on first possession

• TURNER a pretty good shooter in that longer mid range as well as the 3P

• SIAKAM just looks so comfortable in the mid range

  • %s get lower and lower the further you move out, you really want to try and push him outside of 16 feet

  • Has had a really nice start to the 2nd half making really tough shots

• MATHURIN having a really good season

  • You see the talent on back to back possessions

    • Pull up 3PM off a ball screen and then downhill drive and finish

• HALIBURTON is still a tough cover because he can leverage that 3P shooting into attacks of the basket

  • I wonder what Haliburton “deep 3P” % is this season compared to previous seasons, just seems like he doesn’t have that part of his game locked in

• MCCONNELL continues to be a walking paint touch and makes those really difficult pull up jumpers

  • So good 3-16 feet

  • Plays with better pace and stop-start then I probably give him credit for

• WALKER playing exclusively as a perimeter player

  • Has shot well from 3P this season and shows that going 2/2 in the 1st quarter

    • Misses his 3rd attempt

  • Has had very active hands on the ball that have led directly to 2 steals on Cade and Ivey

    • He gets Cade AGAIN and a 3rd one! AND a 4th ONE!!!