The Detroit Pistons have an opportunity to punch their ticket to the Eastern Conference Finals with a victory tomorrow night against the Cavs
During the Detroit Pistons’ second round matchup with the Cleveland Cavaliers, much of the on-court display has been overshadowed by a string of questionable calls from the officials. Earlier in the series, the Cavs received nearly three times as many free throw attempts as the Pistons during game four, and Donovan Mitchell himself took more shots from the charity stripe than the entire Detroit team during Cleveland’s 112-103 victory.
After that game four loss, Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff plainly indicated that the “whistle had changed” since the series shifted back to Cleveland. Since making that public declaration, Detroit has enjoyed a bit more even distribution of foul calls, but game six featured a bevy of whistles that were quite frankly head-scratchers.
During the second half, Ausar Thompson was given a foul for rather negligible contact with Jarrett Allen while beginning a defensive possession, and the third-year ace defender was kicked out of the game with four minutes remaining when he picked up his sixth personal foul of the night.
At another juncture during the matchup, Cade Cunningham was assessed a foul while shuffling his feet laterally to stay in front of James Harden.
These two plays, while just microcosms of the officiating throughout the series, could have been influential calls had the game been any closer down the stretch. Fortunately for Detroit, the Pistons were able to put together a team effort up and down the bench in order to pick up the win and force game seven in the process.
“We did what needed to be done,” Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said after the game. “When we’re at our best, it’s the defense that’s going to carry us. It’s the physicality. I was pleased that we’re allowed to play our style of basketball tonight where we can be handsy, be physical, legally physical and legally handsy and just make it difficult on people. I thought up and down the roster that we did a great job of that, and it obviously helped us close the game out.”
With Thompson unable to impact the game during the final four minutes last night due to foul trouble, the Pistons turned to their bench to help close the game out, but Detroit was well in control at that stage.
“That was the plan,” Bickerstaff said. “Again, we have so much depth. Obviously, foul trouble changed a couple things for us, but we just trust these guys and trust the depth that we have that they can go out and make an impact. Guys like Sass, in the two years we’ve been here has proven that when his number is called, that he’s prepared and can go out, get us buckets and defend at a high level. So, I thought he was great tonight. Up and down the roster, I thought we had great production and great intensity.”
Entering game six, the Pistons had been called for a staggering 78 fouls in the series compared to just 48 for the Cavs, which created an NBA-record disparity of 30 more whistles for one side during the playoffs.
While it is not a good look for an NBA team to consistently harp on unfair treatment from the refs in the postseason, the Pistons seem to have a litany of statistical examples and video anecdotes that support their position. If Detroit is able to win a crucial game seven contest tomorrow night, then their comeback against the Cavs might be considered an even more impressive accomplishment than the 3-1 turnaround against the Orlando Magic in round one because the Pistons are fighting against both Cleveland and a set of officials who seem determined to call the series in a one-sided format.
Game seven is set to take place at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Sunday, May 17 at 8 pm.
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