Pistons vs Indiana Pacers (Opening Night)
Game Breakdown
*Special Situations*
Down 3 late in the 3rd quarter after playing well and leading all game….how do they respond???
Cade with a NASTY spin move and scoop finish in TIGHT corridors
And follows with a pull up 3PM (mentioned below on Cade specific section)\
PnR Stew finishes (buckets on 3 straight possessions)
Some back and forth but back to back Ivey drives (2 FTs and then and one) gives Pistons 5 point lead and really weathers the Pacers run
Finish the quarter off with Cade 3PM (more on that below)
HUGE CHALLENGE WIN BY THE PACERS ON THE HARRIS “WOULD BE” AND ONE
LATE GAME - 5:00 4th (100 - 101) *starters on the court*
Somewhat stagnant possession ends with Cade drive and can’t finish at the rim (100 - 101)
Turner offensive foul (100 - 101)
Don’t get much action early, Cade gets downhill AGAIN but blocked by Turner, OREB by Duren and corner kick to Harris but misses 3PA (100 - 101)
Stagnant possession and Harris forces TOUGH mid range jumper but Siakam knocks it down (100 - 103)
Ivey-Duren two man action ends with Ivey layup (102 - 103)
Haliburton draws two, kick to Siakam and one more to Mathurin with the 3PM (102 - 106)
Ivey mid range jumper off ball screen is missed (102 - 106)
Siakam outruns Duren AND Harris on ensuing transition and gets a dunk (102 - 108)
Cade attacks and gets to the FT line (104 - 108, *Beasley for THJ)
GREAT defensive possession and force Haliburton mid range miss BUT….Cade can’t secure the rebound, Mathurin challenged it (104 - 108)
Duren fouls Mathurin on pull up 3PA (104 - 110)
Beasley fouled off the ball (105 - 110)
Siakam PnP missed 3PA (105 - 110)
Cade-Beasley pass and follow in secondary transition gets Cade downhill, kicks to Ivey who one more to Harris in the corner but missed 3PA (105 - 110)
Ivey draws offensive foul on Nembhard (105 - 110)
Cade dump off to Duren (gets open from off ball screen with Beasley) gets to FT line (107 - 110)
DAGGER 3PM from Haliburton off a short roll kick from Siakam, Mathurin turns down 3PA to take one dribble that draws the defense, kicks back to Siakam who one more passes to Haliburton (Duren in a TOUGH spot on the weakside with Haliburton and Turner) (107 - 113)
Cade and Harris both miss 3PAs but Ivey with two OREBs and eventual putback (109 - 113)
Haliburton FTs (109 - 115)
Pistons - 109 - 115 L
Cade, Ivey, THJ, Harris, Duren
Ivey and Cade open the game with back to back misses at the rim
Love seeing them get there but they HAVE to convert these this season
9:00 1st Quarter is a tremendous defensive possession with MULTIPLE individual efforts on the ball (and a solid ball screen drop rep from Duren)
The individual on ball defensive efforts continue throughout the quarter
They have had MAJOR trouble with “stretch bigs” in the past but scheme tonight is for next man to rotate to him and then rotate behind it (has worked in the 1st half)
Of course, they give up two of these to start the 2nd half…make it 3
Beasley for Ivey is the first sub of the game setting Ivey up to stagger back in with the 2nd unit
“2nd unit” right now is Beasley, Fontecchio, Stewart with Cade and Harris still on the court
Holland for Harris and SASSER for Cade makes it a full 5 for 5 (which is something I did not think we would see)
This unit has a little bit of “attitude” (in a good way) and right now they are backing it up against a 2nd unit that was REALLY good for the Pacers last season
Ivey does sub in for Sasser to start the 2nd quarter
On the court w/o Cade until 8 minute mark (and then back to full starting lineup, Harris-Duren already on the court)
It’s not fruitful but love bringing Cade-Harris in for the end of the 1st quarter offensive possession
Wouldn’t have hated to see THJ for Holland also
They do it again to end the 3rd quarter and IT DOES pay off with a Cade 3PM
TOs sneak up and the Pacers go on a run
ATO in the 1st quarter is designed POST UP for Cade that ends in a hi/lo from Stewart and gets him to the FT line
6:30 2nd quarter you see that secondary transition action where they get Beasley on a ghost action with Cade (open but misses the 3PA)
11:10 3rd quarter is a beautiful possession
Cade-Duren PnR, Cade hits short roll, Duren makes read to cutting Ivey who continues along baseline and hits THJ in the slot for 1 dribble 3PM
THJ gets the opening action of the ‘24-25 season and after a REALLY rough preseason he drills the 3P from the top of the key
And then he hits another on an out of bounds play
This is why you bring him, you are talking about real floor spacing gravity AND ability to heat up
Misses his next two attempts
Loved that he gave up the transition opportunity next possession and gave Harris an open 3PA in the corner
Starts the 2nd half the same way he started the 1st
IVEY taking the Haliburton matchup and picking up full court
And continues to show his ability to pressure the paint/rim
Nice little floater at 11:00 2nd quarter
HE HAS GOT TO MAKE THESE ATTEMPTS AT THE RIM
He is getting there at will
Gets called for 3rd foul halfway through 2nd quarter
Continues to show an ability to time up the off ball cuts
DUREN already CRUSHING the boards….on BOTH ends
Does have two turnovers in the first six minutes
Should continue to shoutout his FT shooting for a big
HARRIS shows off his ability to still attack the rim with a drive and dunk followed by a drive and left hand finish
Just having someone with his build to take on a Siakam matchup is something this team hasn’t had since Jerami Grant
Can make some TOUGH mid range jumpers when you need him to also
STEW with a BIG TIME hustle OREB that eventually ends with Holland getting the first point of his career
What a low man rim protection on Nesmith
BEASLEY with a really nice start
Defended Hali as soon as he came in
Was patient offensively and hasn’t forced anything…..and then knocks down back to back attempts off the bounce
And then hits a floater because you HAVE to closeout to him
SASSER fighting away a DREB from Toppin is big time stuff
HOLLAND is AGGRESSIVE if nothing else
Has pressured the rim and rebounded multiple times in his first few minutes
C&S 3P has not been there but does do a nice job of attacking closeout in the 4th that eventually gets Duren to the FT line
CADE finding nothing easy on the offensive end right now
HARD EARNED bucket at 4:20 in the 2nd quarter, TOUGH move
Absolutely FILTHY lob pass to Duren right before half and notice…..
Off ball defenders are around BUT nobody else in the lane because you have floor spacing from THJ, Beasley and Harris
Poster finish on Turner off another one of those secondary transitions empty side actions
Have now seen the mid post isolation 3 or 4 times in the first 3 quarters
Scores on back to back ones….left shoulder, right hand hook and then left shoulder fade….how about another one that he dribbles into
Has got to get that pull up 3P going
AND HE DOES!!!....what a 3rd quarter explosion from him
Has been awesome with the spin move tonight
Pacers
Haliburton, Nembhard, Nesmith, Siakam, Turner
Wait……is Ben Sheppard not going to be in the normal rotation??? (he’s not on the injury report via ESPN)
Gets a rotation in the 2nd half
Rookie Enrique Freeman is now getting minutes with Isaiah Jackson also out (and Wiseman injury)
They LOVE looking for those early transition post ups from the 4 man (Siakam and Toppin)
NEMBHARD being very aggressive early
Getting to his spots on the floor whether mid range pull up or drawing a foul
He has been AWESOME the entire first half, on both ends
NESMITH is a really solid player
He could become one of those “star in their role” guys this year that starts to get more credit
Shot the ball well from 3P line last season AND I think he can attack a closeout
Makes him a complete “advantage exploiter”
AND he makes hustle plays
WISEMAN the first big man sub
Showing off that nice soft touch
Looks like he might have torn his achilles, just awful awful for him
Hoping for a quick and full recovery
HALIBURTON looks to have some of that “juice” and explosiveness back that he had lost last season with hamstring injury
Has shown it on multiple possessions but hasn’t really been that productive….or aggressive at times
He stays on the court with McConnell, Mathurin, Toppin and Wiseman
Has actually had quite a few defensive playmaking possessions
MCCONNELL just gets to the lane any time he wants
What a steal in transition at the end of the 1st quarter
Money in the mid range
They can’t stop him
WALKER taking the IVEY matchup which is interesting
TURNER hasn’t gotten it going from the 3P line (something previous years Pistons teams have really given up) BUT his activity in ball screen coverage has been very good
Such a weapon when he does get it going like he does to start the 2nd half
SIAKAM is just so versatile with his scoring
Including some nice footwork in the mid post
MATHURIN with some really nice off the ball cuts
Getting some HUGE buckets in the 4th quarter
Thanks Bryce, really looking forward to these this season. Big value added to the Pistons experience.