Wizards HC Keefe Credits Detroit Pistons’ Physicality In Preseason Game

If the Detroit Pistons want to break down their 114-108 overtime loss to the Washington Wizards into digestible pieces, the preseason game could be divided into three distinct phases. 

In the first quarter, the Wizards built a healthy lead against a short-handed Pistons squad since both Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren were out of the lineup. Without that All-Star pairing, Detroit relied on both Daniss Jenkins and Ausar Thompson to make plays early on, but the Wizards carved out a 40-20 advantage heading into the second quarter. 

At that point, the Pistons shook off a bit of rust and recommitted to their identity by forcing turnovers and attacking the offensive glass in order to generate extra possessions. Slowly but surely, Detroit worked back into the game before eventually mounting a charge in the fourth quarter to force overtime. 

”We’ve gotta give them a little credit too,” Wizards head coach Brian Keefe said after the game. “They upped their physicality of the game. I think we turned the ball over. We weren’t getting the type of shots that we wanted, and then they got on the offensive boards and we had to start walking into our offense.”

Overall, the Pistons grabbed 14 more offensive rebounds than the Wizards were able to on Saturday night while procuring six more steals than their counterpart, which underscored the type of hustle that made Detroit a tough out on the schedule for any team in the NBA last season. 

Throughout his tenure in the Motor City, Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff has drilled the importance of winning the margin into his team, so their late-game comeback against the Wizards shouldn’t catch anyone by surprise. But in the third and final portion of the game, Washington was able to hit their free throws and convert some tough buckets down low in the paint for a six-point win in defense of their home court on the weekend. 

Since the preseason is predicated on creating teachable moments for players who are still developing, the outcome of Saturday night’s exhibition game is less important for the Pistons than the actual work that was done on-court. Detroit rookie Ebuka Okorie had another pristine opportunity to get used to back-and-forth games at the NBA level with multiple lead changes in the fourth quarter, so there were several positive notes for the Pistons to take away from the Eastern Conference matchup despite the outcome. 

While the Pistons fell to 1-1 in the preseason, the squad will take a couple days to regroup and practice before taking the show on the road for a preseason tilt against the Minnesota Timberwolves at 8 pm on Wednesday, Oct. 14. Bickerstaff has not gone on record regarding an official date for Duren’s return, but he did say the big man should “definitely” play in the preseason, so it’s possible that happens against the T-Wolves.