FAST BREAKDOWN
Three quick observations from Wednesday night’s 109-91 loss to the Toronto Raptors to open the 2016-17 regular season…
SLAM DUNK – The good news is the Pistons held down half of Toronto’s Olympic backcourt of Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan. The bad news is that DeRozan did enough damage for any three Olympians all by himself. DeRozan scored 40 points – even without scoring in the fourth quarter – one better than Toronto’s franchise record for a season opener held by Vince Carter. The Pistons got beat up on the boards (51-40), didn’t get much out of their bench until late and gave up way too many free throws – the Raptors were 24 of 29, shooting 23 in the first half alone, and outscored the Pistons by seven from the line – but it was DeRozan that kept them from mounting a serious run after they fell behind by 12 at halftime. Toronto went on a 9-0 spurt in the final 2:39 of the second quarter to take control and then DeRozan scored 21 points in the third quarter as Toronto went up by 17. The Pistons got back within 10 with eight minutes to play but never got it to single digits.Andre Drummond played just seven first-half minutes after taking an elbow to the face early from Jonas Valanciunas, sitting out for about 17 consecutive minutes before returning late in the second quarter. He finished with 16 points and six rebounds in 24 minutes. The Pistons took at 11-4 lead, scoring on each of their first five possessions, but then their ball movement became spotty and they simply put Toronto at the free-throw line way too often. The Raptors were a perfect 13 of 13 in the first quarter alone, outscoring the Pistons 13-2, and closed the quarter on a 29-12 run.
FREE THROW – The Pistons ran way fewer 1-5 pick and rolls with their point guard and center with Reggie Jackson missing from the lineup. They got decent enough play from their point guards, Ish Smith and newcomer Beno Udrih, but it’s clear the Pistons are going to rely on Tobias Harris and Marcus Morris in their half-court offense until Jackson gets back from his knee injury. Harris finished with 22 points and five rebounds, hitting 8 of 13 shots and 5 of 5 free throws. Morris finished with 17 points and a team-high nine rebounds. They’re also going to need scoring out of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who drained a jump shot on the game’s first possession but then missed all but one other shot, finishing 2 of 9. His only other basket was a breakaway layup. Caldwell-Pope had a tough night, forced to guard DeRozan most of the time and then taking a few turns on Lowry, as well. Smith and Udrih combined for 11 points and picked up nine assists against zero turnovers, though they shot poorly, Smith 3 of 10 and Udrih 1 of 5.
3-POINTER – There isn’t usually a ton of suspense in finding out the identity of players on the inactive list. But Stan Van Gundy said earlier this week it would be a tough decision for him to pick one – and with Reggie Jackson shelved, he had to pick just one – for the season opener. He wound up picking rookie Michael Gbinije even though he’d been a player who’d routinely caught his eye after a rough opening week of training camp – but a half-hour later, about an hour before tipoff when the inactive list needed to be submitted, the Pistons scratched Reggie Bullock with back spasms. “That was tough,” Van Gundy said of choosing Gbinije. “I really think over the last 2, 21/2 weeks, he’s probably been our best of the backup wing guys. But we’ve got a little more experience in the other guys, so we felt a little more comfortable with them being ready to go right now. But it was a tough choice.” Van Gundy used Stanley Johnson first from the group that includes Gbinije, Bullock and Darrun Hilliard as options behind wing starters Marcus Morris and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. Only Johnson played in the opener until Van Gundy used Gbinije for the last 2:10, finishing with two points, three rebounds and an assist in just 15 minutes.
