If the Pistons showed a better face in this year 2022, with already six victories against only five between mid-October and December 31, 2021, it is in particular because they were more serious with the ball in attack.
Fewer lost balls means more ammunition for them, so less for the opponent and that makes the difference. But in Denver, the Pistons relapsed with 22 wasted possessions, including two capitals in the final seconds.
Dwane Casey’s players had indeed made a comeback to equalize at 111 everywhere, 75 seconds from the end. Then Cory Joseph lost the ball, because of Will Barton’s defense. Then Saddiq Bey set foot on the sideline…
“Without taking anything away from the Nuggets, we shot ourselves in the foot”, believes the Michigan franchise coach at Detroit Free Press. “We gave 22 possessions, between illicit screens and feet on the line, and that gives Denver 28 points… However, we played with intensity and we fought. “
This is all the more infuriating for the young Pistons, who are among the worst teams in the league in the field of lost balls (15 per game). They made the necessary efforts to offer themselves a suspenseful end to the match, to shake up Nikola Jokic and company, then a lack of concentration and accuracy killed all hope.
“To build what you want to build, you have to take care of the ball. Here, this is not the case “, pursues and regrets Casey. “Apologizing is not enough, because lost balls add up after a while. The last ten games, we lost only 12 balls per game. And then there was this match, that’s what is the most disappointing. We must play each possession as if it were the last of the game. As long as we do not do this, we will very often be disappointed. “
| Shots | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | bp | Int | CT | party | Points |
| Jerami Grant | 24 | 33.2 | 41.4 | 33.1 | 84.9 | 1.0 | 3.9 | 4.8 | 2.6 | 2.1 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 2.2 | 20.1 |
| Cade Cunningham | 36 | 32.0 | 40.0 | 32.5 | 84.2 | 0.9 | 4.5 | 5.4 | 5.1 | 3.6 | 1.3 | 0.6 | 2.9 | 15.6 |
| Saddiq Bey | 45 | 33.5 | 38.2 | 33.2 | 83.7 | 1.3 | 4.6 | 5.9 | 2.5 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 1.8 | 15.2 |
| Kelly Olynyk | 12 | 22.6 | 44.6 | 31.4 | 62.8 | 1.4 | 4.1 | 5.5 | 2.8 | 1.5 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 2.8 | 12.6 |
| Hamidou Diallo | 38 | 22.6 | 51.2 | 25.4 | 62.7 | 1.0 | 3.6 | 4.6 | 1.3 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 0.4 | 2.5 | 10.8 |
| frank jackson | 33 | 22.7 | 40.3 | 33.3 | 83.0 | 0.3 | 1.2 | 1.5 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 1.6 | 10.7 |
| Trey Lyles | 42 | 19.3 | 44.3 | 29.3 | 78.2 | 1.3 | 3.5 | 4.8 | 1.2 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 1.8 | 9.8 |
| Cory Joseph | 34 | 23.3 | 44.8 | 43.6 | 83.3 | 0.4 | 1.9 | 2.2 | 4.0 | 1.4 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 1.8 | 8.1 |
| Isaiah Stewart II | 37 | 25.1 | 51.9 | 10.0 | 66.7 | 2.6 | 5.4 | 8.0 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 0.4 | 1.2 | 2.8 | 7.7 |
| Josh Jackson | 36 | 18.5 | 41.5 | 27.0 | 71.4 | 0.5 | 2.7 | 3.2 | 1.3 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 1.9 | 7.5 |
| Cassius Stanley | 7 | 20.3 | 40.5 | 25.0 | 100.0 | 0.7 | 1.7 | 2.4 | 0.6 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 1.9 | 6.9 |
| Derrick Walton, Jr. | 3 | 36.1 | 23.1 | 23.1 | 100.0 | 0.7 | 2.7 | 3.3 | 7.0 | 3.7 | 2.3 | 1.3 | 2.7 | 6.3 |
| Killian Hayes | 33 | 25.5 | 34.3 | 29.7 | 84.8 | 0.5 | 2.5 | 3.0 | 3.6 | 1.5 | 1.2 | 0.4 | 2.5 | 6.2 |
| justin robinson | 5 | 18.2 | 32.1 | 38.1 | 33.3 | 0.4 | 1.0 | 1.4 | 1.8 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 1.6 | 5.6 |
| Saben Lee | 26 | 15.4 | 38.0 | 27.3 | 76.7 | 0.4 | 2.2 | 2.5 | 2.4 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 0.9 | 5.3 |
| Luka Garza | 27 | 12.1 | 43.6 | 32.5 | 64.3 | 1.7 | 1.3 | 3.1 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 1.7 | 5.3 |
| Rodney McGruder | 20 | 11.9 | 47.3 | 41.5 | 66.7 | 0.7 | 1.4 | 2.0 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.8 | 4.5 |
| Micah Potter | 3 | 10.3 | 45.5 | 0.0 | 100.0 | 1.3 | 1.7 | 3.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 4.0 |
| Cheick Diallo | 3 | 10.2 | 37.5 | 0.0 | 83.3 | 1.3 | 2.7 | 4.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 3.7 |
| Deividas Sirvydis | 3 | 8.9 | 10.0 | 14.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 1.0 |
| Jamorko Pickett | 6 | 7.8 | 10.0 | 14.3 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 1.2 | 1.5 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 0.5 |
| Isaiah Livers | 1 | 4.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 |
| Trayvon Palmer | 1 | 16.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 |
| Jaysean Paige | 1 | 6.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 |
