Getty Images<\/p>\n First 5,000 using the code SBNFALL30 get a free monthNever miss a Cavaliers game. Stream all season long with FanDuel Sports Network<\/p>\n We know the Pistons rank high in steals and blocks this year, and Ausar Thompson is the stock man as a wing. Isaiah Stewart is first in total blocks<\/a> if only mortal humans are included.<\/p>\n Besides those counting stats, the Pistons\u2019 defense moves as a closed fist in the halfcourt. They\u2019re a together unit that flies around making up for each other. Detroit\u2019s giving up a measly 88.9 points per 100 in the halfcourt, according to Cleaning the Glass (2nd behind Miami).<\/p>\n The offense hasn\u2019t operated with the same we\u2019re all in this together mentality during crunch time. At least scoring-wise. When it\u2019s winning time, give Cade Cunningham the ball and get out of the way.<\/p>\n You could do that, but Detroit still tries to get Cade a head start attacking rotating defenses when others bring the ball up and Cade is in scorer mode, Iverson cutting to the other side of the floor ready to attack.<\/p>\n Even if Cade can\u2019t attack a moving defense, it still hasn\u2019t mattered. The shotmaking down the stretch of games has been bonkers. He\u2019s shooting over lengthy defenders, Barkleying to the post, and getting to the rim at will. His 86 fourth-quarter points<\/a> are No. 1 in the Association.<\/p>\n This type of play from the Pistons star will lead to an All-NBA Cup<\/a> team and possibly the MVP of the whole thing. This Emirates NBA Cup<\/a> is still relatively new, but players seem to play as hard, and the Bucks celebrated like it mattered last year. More money and competitive bragging rights will do that.<\/p>\n Cam Thomas and Michael Porter Jr. are the Brooklyn \u201cstars\u201d who haven\u2019t helped this team be super competitive this year. They\u2019re both scoring as much as they can, but making plays for others isn\u2019t their game. Thomas is out in this one anyway with a hamstring injury.<\/p>\n Assists aren\u2019t the end-all be-all for playmaking, but Nets center Nic Claxton leads Brooklyn in APG at 3.8. There is nothing inherently wrong with a big man leading the squad in assists, but Claxton isn\u2019t a Joki\u0107\/Sabonis\/\u015eeng\u00fcn type of center. He\u2019s a roll man lob threat, so that Brooklyn trend is concerning\u2014especially after they drafted four guards in the first round.<\/p>\n With Brooklyn\u2019s glaring deficiencies (30th defense, 23rd offense) and Detroit\u2019s uptick in most things across the board, this game should be in control quickly if Detroit sticks to its guns.<\/p>\n Keep smothering offenses, keep Jalen Duren on his Shaq attack stuff, and keep the ball in Deuce\u2019s hands if the game is in the line.<\/p>\n Cade Cunningham, Duncan Robinson, Ausar Thompson, Isaiah Stewart, Jalen Duren<\/p>\n Tyrese Martin, Terence Mann, Michael Porter Jr., Noah Clowney, Nic Claxton<\/p>\n Think back to those early 2000s Pistons-Nets playoff matchups. What stands out the most?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s clear as day what\u2019s going to happen if a Detroit Pistons game goes down to the wire.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":395239,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3767],"tags":[7,670,247,3803,52275,6,671,53269],"class_list":{"0":"post-395238","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-brooklyn-nets","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-brooklyn","10":"tag-brooklyn-nets","11":"tag-brooklynnets","12":"tag-detroit-pistons-game-day","13":"tag-nba","14":"tag-nets","15":"tag-pistons-previews"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115509536082116389","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/395238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=395238"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/395238\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/395239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=395238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=395238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=395238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1762535540_923_gettyimages-2243186082.jpg\"\/)
<\/a><\/p>\n