Pistons vs Miami Heat

Game Breakdown

*Special Situations*

• Up 12 with 7:00 in the 2nd quarter….have to keep this lead in the double digits

  • Sasser extends the lead with a tough 3PM off the dribble

  • Herro has an answer 3P but Ausar mid range continues to keep the Heat at a distance

  • Some TOs and bad offense + Butler taking over on offense has the lead below double digits

  • Nice answer with Duren OREB putback and Cade dime to Holland for the reverse

  • Butler seems to be getting into the lane any time he wants right now

  • He has really taken over here and the lead is strongly below 10

• Still have a 4 point lead at halftime…can they immediately regain control of the game to start the half?

  • Ausar with a REALLY nice finish with his left hand

  • Then forces a TO (how good has the defense been!!??) and gets a transition dunk

  • They get a Herro 3P miss and then Beasley hits a contested 3P and the lead is back over 10

  • Beasley with an awesome 3PM after the Herro 3-point play is a HUGE answer

• Cade leaves 3:37 3rd quarter and up 17….can they keep this lead with him out? Who initiates offense and scores the ball?

  • Read gets a catch and finish off a pass from Beasley

  • Heat get a BIG stepback 3PM from Rozier who has been quiet up to this point

  • Sasser responds with a C&S 3PM

  • Beasley with ANOTHER 3PM

  • Still up 16 at the end of the 3rd quarter which I would say is a win in non Cade minutes

• One of three paths starting the 4th quarter…..

  • 1. Take control, extend the lead and put the game away early

  • 2. Don’t let Miami take control, lead stays in double digits and try to keep them at arm's length

  • 3. Immediately let Miami back in the game and have to find a way to win a close game late

    • We already saw what they are capable of when Herro went nuclear 15 games ago against them and sent the game to OT

  • Jaquez bucket (vs Fontecchio) and Duren TO and this isn’t looking like a promising start

    • They actually respond to this and eventually force a Heat timeout, Robinson with a ridiculous off screen 3PM ATO

  • Honestly, it looks like they are going with path #2 right now

  • Still hanging just over 10 as we get under 5 minutes and Cade has a bad TO and a missed bunny layup

  • Herro about to do this again??? Hits a tough 3PM and it’s under 10

    • Yup, doing EXACTLY what he did 15 games ago….Herro makes a ridiculous shot, not sure it was that badly defended (maybe Cade could foul Butler as soon as he starts dribbling but that’s with 8 seconds on the clock still)

  • The only thing I would have liked to see Cade do is stay more aggressive downhill on the last possession…think he could have gotten 2 more dribbles in and gotten a shot from mid range (or closer) OR draw a foul

• OT, can they find a way to win this one just like they did the last time against Miami?

  • Miami isolation for Bam to start OT, Duren with a good defensive stop

  • Cade gets to the rim vs Rozier but unable to finish 2 attempts and Duren can’t get the tip in

  • Bam PnR finish, Heat up 2

  • Cade/Ausar PnR but Butler active hands dig it away and off Ausar

    • I love this action but haven’t been able to convert off it much…yet

  • Get a stop but Beasley misses in the lane, Heat up 2

  • Butler continues to get to the rim at will, Heat up 4

  • Beasley missed open corner C&S 3PA

  • Robinson beats THJ off the bounce, Heat up 6

    • Going to be tough to build any momentum after losing that lead, not making a FGA in idk how many minutes and being down 6 with 2:30 left in OT

  • ATO action Beasley 3PA from the top of the key that is missed

  • Robinson drive and tough finish, Heat up 8

    • This isn’t looking good…..

  • THJ with a transition C&S 3PM from deep, Heat up 5

  • Herro misses a REALLY good look from 3P….if they have a chance they have to go get another bucket right now

  • Cade drive and kick to THJ for C&S 3PM, Heat up 2

  • Really nice effort on the defensive ATO to get an air ball and a stop

  • THJ GOES STRAIGHT “TYLER HERRO” AND HITS BACK TO BACK TO BACK 3P TO GIVE DETROIT THE LEAD!!!, Pistons up 1

  • Duren with great defensive effort vs Bam forces the miss but THJ gives up OREB to Butler, Heat up 1

  • Butler stops to put his shoe on, Cade attacks and finishes, Pistons up 1

  • Herro gets another quality look from 3P but misses

  • THJ TO on SLOB, for all of his heroics there have been some rough moments in this stretch as well

    • Looked like miscommunication between him and Beasley

  • Duren gets isolated on Herro but holds up pretty decent and gets a good contest on a deep off the dribble 3PA that is missed, Pistons 125-124

Pistons

• Cade, Beasley, THJ, Ausar, Duren

  • Still would love to see them take care of business where they aren’t even in that situation at the end of regulation AND would have loved to see them start OT better BUT this team played some really good basketball for a majority of this game AND overcame some real adversity in OT (and injury adversity) to pull out a win and move to 11-16 on the season

  • DEFENSE

    • Ausar on Herro, Cade on Butler and THJ on Robinson

    • Fascinated to watch all of these

    • Can Ausar lock down Herro? Can Cade stay out of foul trouble vs Butler? Can THJ stay connected to Robinson?

      • Herro immediately starts to pop offensively when Ausar left the game

    • I would be curious why JB doesn’t go zone ATO like some teams around the NBA do….legitimately just curious

  • OFFENSE

    • Current pace of 3PM per game would be most in team history

    • How about Holland Ausar C&S 3PMs in the 1st quarter!!!

      • Have also seen both used as PnR short roll partners with Cade in the first 12 minutes and 30 seconds of the game

    • They start putting 2 on Cade and it has completely thrown off any offensive flow

• THJ loses Robinson on the opening possession but what a play by Ausar to come across the lane and contest the lob

  • Stays taking charges, love it

    • And he takes another one!!!

    • I know some fans haven’t been happy with him or think he has “earned his starting spot” but if you want to talk about setting a tone…personally, I think this absolutely does that

      • With that said, the on ball point of attack defense can be really rough

    • He is getting HOT here in OT

• AUSAR is just really struggling around the rim right now, have to imagine this falls back into place (starting to see it already as this game goes on)

  • 65% 0-3 feet and 54% 3-10 feet last season

  • First C&S 3PM looks very fluid, continues to look better than what we saw last season

  • His rotations continue to be very short (and opposite of Holland)

  • How ELITE have his hands been digging at the ball??? Wow!!

  • Man, outside of that 3PM the offense has been rough in the first 18 minutes

    • Couple passes that were wildly off target along with those misses at the rim

  • Looks like they are giving him a chance to initiate offense here mid 2nd quarter with Cade on the bench

  • THE MID RANGE FADE AWAY RETURNS!!!

    • Have been waiting for him to knock down one of those

  • An absolutely DOMINANT 3rd quarter

  • His defense is truly exciting BUT if there is one thing I think he needs to lock in on it’s not going for fakes as much

    • He gets himself out of position a lot because he goes flying by on shot fakes

• DUREN immediately gives up a wide open 3PM to Bam

  • I realize Bam isn’t one of these other bigs that the Pistons have REALLY struggled with but his attempts are up this year and he is hitting them at 33% which means at least get around the screen and give a soft closeout

    • Much better corner closeout a few minutes later

  • Otherwise, his activity hasn’t been bad to start the game

  • He can’t be turning the ball over like this

  • Foul trouble hits and I feel like a few of them were just silly

• BEASLEY with an ELITE ball fake of the rotating defender to create the space for his first 3PM of the game

  • Does it again and it works AGAIN for another 3PM

  • Man, he is locked in right now….his next make is a really nice relocation off a Cade drive

  • He is unconscious

    • Misses a “heat check” attempt with 2:00 left in the 3rd quarter…I am fine with this shot because he has been so hot BUT I am starting to try and track how players shoot AFTER missing these “heat check” attempts

    • Misses his first 3PA after this on a decent but not wide open C&S

    • Makes his second 3PA after this on a TOUGH one off a screen

    • Misses his third 3PA after this on a wide open corner C&S in OT

    • Misses his fourth 3PA on ATO action in OT

• CADE mid post continues to be a very successful playtype

  • Created C&S 3PM for THJ and then Cade pays it off with a jump hook

  • Would like to see some more off the ball movement from him

    • 8:00 1st quarter Fontecchio drives the lane line and Cade stands instead of moving with the drive into a passing window

  • His distribution of the basketball has been so impressive

  • I think he just gets too casual at times….gets past Smith with a mid post move but then doesn’t seem fully engaged for the finish or like someone isn’t coming to contest and gets blocked

    • Maybe he underestimates the defensive playmaking abilities of guys???

  • When he has the 3P jumper going off the bounce…..

    • Has a NASTY make off a left to right crossover

• FONTECCHIO with a really rough start to the game

  • Bad drive and left hand attempt at the rim and then no chance passing read

    • I will take that transition C&S 3PM over some of the other plays he has been trying to make off the dribble

  • The defense has been pretty rough as well

  • Not a good 1st quarter for him

  • I have been a big fan of his going back to last year but he has not been good at all in this game

  • Bad TO immediately upon entering the game late in the 4th quarter

• STEW with a couple nice finishes here in the lane

  • Has to figure out the short roll passing, makes the right read BUT WAYYYYY off target

• HOLLAND impact on the DREBs has been felt here in the 1st half

  • This is extremely important with Harris being out (5.9 DREB per game)

  • I also like the way he has attacked closeouts in the HC

• REED going to get some major minutes with the Stew injury and Duren foul trouble

• SASSER on ball defensive disruption, yes please!

  • Follows this up with a C&S 3PM…everyone knows at this point that I believe these two things to be his value

Heat

• Herro, Robinson, Highsmith, Butler, Bam

  • They love the action with Love at the top of the key and then setting a weakside backscreen for Butler

    • It’s there ATO but Butler isn’t able to make the shot

  • Better be ready for Zone after every timeout AND for them to stay in it until you figure it out

  • Seems like they have made multiple really nice off the ball cuts in the 1st half

  • Not a team that is up there in PACE at all but every time I watch them I find them to be opportunistic with long outlet or kick ahead passes that lead directly to points

  • It looks like to me when HERRO isn’t getting it going their offense really struggles

    • They also don’t seem to have the same movement and flow that we saw in the 1st half and specifically, in the 2nd quarter

    • Rozier giving them some juice off the bench also looks to be very vital to the offensive success

• BAM up to almost 3 3PAs per game will be interesting to track all season

  • He’s so tough when he is making that jumper in the middle of the lane

• HERRO consistently putting pressure on the defense

  • These types of bucket getters are unreal….they can be cold all game long and then all of a sudden snap into a flow in the 4th quarter and start hitting shots that are not only clutch but have a ridiculous level of difficulty

• BUTLER physicality is giving Detroit fits, has been a parade to the lane in the 1st half (continues throughout the entire game)

  • Attacking closeouts/isolations, off ball cuts, post ups, etc.

  • Has been really good being the double guy on Cade here at the end of the 4th quarter along with being extremely disruptive all game

• HIGHSMITH shooting the 3P really well on over 3 per game now

  • He does this along with what he provides defensively and he’s a really impactful 3-and-D wing for them

• LOVE is so good at these outlet passes that he is one of a few players I bet get subbed at the end of the 1st half just to try and make it off a free throw make or miss

• JAQUEZ has done a nice job in that slashing role

  • Yes, will isolate you at times but really nice art for cutting at the right time to the right spots

• SMITH doesn’t do a lot of highlight level things but he has flashed multiple times with some nice plays

  • Even taking the Cade matchup here in the 4th quarter

• ROBINSON movement shooting is ridiculous