The Detroit Pistons were outmatched on Monday night by a similarly defensively sound Spurs squad
Entering Monday night’s cross-conference matchup, both the Detroit Pistons and San Antonio Spurs represented a throwback version of defense-first basketball that few teams across the league can replicate.
As the NBA has chosen to zig towards drive-and-kick perimeter shots, the Pistons and Spurs opted to zag towards a more fundamental direction, one that values defensive responsibility and hustle equity, and they’ve had ample success in doing so this season. But playing in front of a raucous home crowd at Little Caesars Arena, the Pistons were outmatched on the perimeter by Devin Vassell’s seven long-range connections and Victor Wembanyama’s dominant defensive effort bothered Detroit in what unfolded as a 114-103 loss at home.
After the game, Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff battled through a hoarse voice to speak with the media, and that sound is actually reflective of the struggle Detroit faced all night long.
“They moved the ball well,” Bickerstaff said. “They attacked off the bounce to draw in defense and create those sprays. Some of them were our fault, like we gave up strong-side corner threes which we typically don’t, replacement threes that we typically don’t. But credit to them, they played a good ball game.”
With that pretext, the back-and-forth slugfest that unfolded between the Pistons and Spurs earlier tonight should not come as a surprise. Instead, take the Spurs’ 11-point victory as an example of two highly competitive teams that fought tooth-and-nail to secure a mid-season win because they know that every game matters when it comes to determining home court advantage throughout the NBA Playoffs.
During the second half, Bickerstaff opted to play Ron Holland in situations where Ausar Thompson would usually rack up minutes, and the All-Star coach confirmed that Holland received the extra run because of how well he performed in the first half after scoring nine points in two minutes early on. Still, Thompson’s absence was felt during a third quarter stretch where the Spurs began to pull away with the lead.
To that effect, Pistons center Jalen Duren bore the responsibility of guarding Wemby for most of the night, but JD held his own on defense against his All-Star counterpart. Wembanyama finished with 21 points, 17 rebounds and six blocks on the night, but those are relatively modest numbers for the French big man. From an offensive perspective, Duren logged 25 points (10-for-13 FGs) and 14 rebounds in a performance that showcased the fourth-year center’s abject strength and determination in the paint. On several occasions, Duren elevated to throw down a series of rim-rattling dunks, and he even went airborne to posterize Wemby on one occasion in the hard-fought loss.
Apart from JD’s strong showing, the Spurs’ tight defense held Cade Cunningham in check for much of the game, limiting the MVP candidate to just 16 points, 10 assists and three rebounds. Bickerstaff mentioned that San Antonio put five different players on Cunningham throughout the game, so the Spurs ultimately proved to be successful in their defend-by-committee approach to the All-Star floor general.
Next up, the Pistons have a home game against the Oklahoma Thunder set for Wednesday night, but Detroit will have another shot at the Spurs one week later on Thursday, March 5 and Isaiah Stewart will be back from his suspension to potentially give San Antonio a tougher defensive puzzle to crack.
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