Detroit Pistons Buck Trends In Preseason Opener

To open their preseason account, the Detroit Pistons escaped with a narrow two-point victory over the Phoenix Suns on Monday night and left a few clues as to what type of team they’ll be in the 2026-27 season.

Last year, the Pistons maximized their ability to win the margins, which means a focus on offensive rebounding, turnover generation and scoring in the paint. By following that recipe, Detroit racked up 60 regular season wins and obtained the top seed in the Eastern Conference, though the blueprint showed significant cracks during the playoffs. But after an offseason of personnel change that was designed to increase Detroit’s offensive range, the Pistons should function differently on both sides of the ball, which is exactly what happened in their preseason opener. 

From a shooting sense, the Pistons are supposed to be far more prepared from the perimeter since they added a trio of 40% three-point snipers during the summer, but that consistency did not translate to the free throw line against the Suns. Detroit finished with a 63% mark from the charity stripe on Monday, which is even lower than their fourth-worst rate of 76.3% last season. 

Tolu Smith was notably one of the worst offenders with a 1-for-6 conversion rate weighing down Detroit’s efficiency, but the Pistons fortunately ran into a Phoenix outfit that struggled even more from the line (52%), which ultimately proved to be the difference in the one-possession game. Besides, Smith is still adjusting to shooting free throws left-handed, so he deserves a bit of grace in this situation. 

Switching focus to the glass, the Pistons carved out part of their identity on controlling the rebounding war on both sides of the floor last season, finishing 8th in the NBA with 45.6 boards per game. Even though the Suns were in the bottom half a year ago, they managed to snag 12 more rebounds than Detroit in the exhibition contest in Motown. Overall, the Suns secured 38% of the 36 rebounds that were available when the Pistons were on defense, which is far higher than any team would prefer to allow. 

From a tactical standpoint, the Pistons made it a point of emphasis to hop into the transition game whenever possible so that the squad can benefit from easier looks near the rim last year, but the Suns actually held the advantage in paint points (40 to 38) while matching Detroit with 12 fastbreak points apiece. 

If these trends continue throughout the rest of the preseason, then the Pistons could very well have transformed their team’s style over the summer, but the more likely scenario is that they’ll steadily creep closer to their hard-nosed, physical identity as the exhibition slate continues. And to that effect, the Pistons are back in action tomorrow night for a 7:30 pm tip-off against the Washington Wizards on the road, who are fresh off a two-point win of their own.