Milwaukee Bucks Game Preview: Nov. 3 at Detroit Pistons
By Adam McGee
Major key for Detroit – Pick up extra scoring opportunities
The Detroit Pistons have been one of the surprise packages of the season so far, starting the year 5-3. Make no mistake, though, the Pistons have also been distinctly average for most of that time.
A quick look at how the Pistons rank in various notable categories reveals Detroit to be 15th in offensive rating, 14th in defensive rating, 20th in points, 15th in field goal percentage, 19th in three-point percentage, 22nd in rebounding, 19th in assists and dead last in blocks.
Where the Pistons do excel is in creating extra chances to create offense, though.
Although a poor rebounding team overall, the Pistons are currently third in offensive rebounding. Stan Van Gundy’s team are also third in the NBA in steals per game, while giving up the second least turnovers per game too.
In other words, the Pistons are limiting extra possessions for opposing teams while creating a whole host of opportunities in that vein for themselves.
While the Bucks haven’t been forcing a lot of turnovers, they have been taking care of the ball pretty well (ninth lowest in turnovers) so far. If the Bucks don’t offer Detroit the extra chances they’ve been feeding on, the Pistons could really struggle to get things firing.