Detroit Pistons: Duncan Robinson Says NBA Cup ‘Means A Little Extra’

Last night, the Detroit Pistons had an opportunity to start off their NBA Cup journey on the right foot with a 110-94 win over the Brooklyn Nets on the road, although it was a game that presented more challenges than the score line would convey. 

Early in the first quarter, the Pistons fell behind by double digits and had to steadily work their way back into the game through turnover creation and defensive pressure. In fact, Detroit held Brooklyn to just 38 points in the second and third frames combined, so the Pistons leaned on their defensive aptitude on a night when their shot wasn’t falling. 

”That’s more to our identity,” Pistons wing Duncan Robinson said after the game. “We can win games in different ways, prefer to not win all of them ugly, but if that’s required, that’s what we’ll do. So, didn’t make a lot of shots tonight as a group, but I thought we took the right ones.”

The Pistons shot 42% from the field and 29% from long-range on Friday night, but Detroit forced the Nets into having a similarly poor shooting effort as well, which was key to their victory. From a defensive standpoint, the Pistons forced the Nets into committing twice as many turnovers, and those extra possessions allowed for Detroit to build a substantial lead in the second half to move to 5-1 on the year. 

From an individual standpoint, Robinson has cooled off a bit after his prolific start to the regular season, but the veteran sniper still contributed 17 points, four rebounds, two assists and three steals last night during Detroit’s first NBA Cup matchup. 

From that perspective, the Pistons started off their cup campaign about as well as they could have hoped for. Detroit entered the contest without the services of All-Star center Jalen Duren for the fourth straight game, and Isaiah Joe was forced to sit out the Eastern Conference battle with a hip contusion of his own, so the Pistons still haven’t returned to full strength. Few teams in the NBA have the ability to win games even when they’re not firing on all cylinders, but the Pistons found a way to do just that last night as they kicked off the league’s in-season tournament. 

”Anytime you get to compete for something, it means a little extra,” Robinson said. “We spoke about it [Friday] at shootaround, definitely set the intention of how we wanted to come out. Didn’t necessarily come out that way the first four, five minutes, but we settled in, got some stops on the defensive end, then we were able to go on a little bit of a run.”

Moving forward, the Pistons still have Group Play matchups on the docket against the Toronto Raptors, Orlando Magic and Milwaukee Bucks, so Detroit still has some work to do before they can start thinking about the next round. But a 16-point win on the road despite a poor shooting performance is the type of victory that can galvanize a squad in the early stages of the regular season, so look for the Pistons to use last night’s triumph as a building block as they prepare for another road game against the Charlotte Hornets on Monday, Nov. 2 at 7:30 pm.