{"id":501496,"date":"2025-12-28T17:15:14","date_gmt":"2025-12-28T17:15:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/501496\/"},"modified":"2025-12-28T17:15:14","modified_gmt":"2025-12-28T17:15:14","slug":"pistons-vs-clippers-preview-get-out-in-transition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/501496\/","title":{"rendered":"Pistons vs Clippers preview: Get out in transition"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">The Detroit Pistons dropped a close one to the Utah Jazz, then the Jazz turned around and beat the San Antonio Spurs on a back-to-back. That\u2019s the league for you.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">The Pistons can get back on track against the Los Angeles Clippers tonight. The Clippers looked like a tanking squad, but they have a pulse now.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Kawhi Leonard and James Harden have the Clippers playing their best ball of the season, but they\u2019re still a dreadful transition and defensive team.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Defensively, it\u2019s a challenge to get back for LA. Offensively, the Clippers are efficient in transition but dead last in how often they get on the break. Those flaws are something Detroit should aim to exploit.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Where: Intuit Dome, Los Angeles, California<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Watch: FanDuel Sports Network Detroit<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Detroit had 18 fast break points against the Jazz \u2014 identical to their season average. There will be more chances against the Clippers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">LA\u2019s transition defense issues didn\u2019t start this year. The coaching staff believed transition defense was the main culprit in their first-round series loss to the Denver Nuggets last year. These <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/LAClippers\/comments\/1nuo7fx\/new_shirts_for_the_clippers_coaches_shirts_were_a\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">shirts<\/a> haven\u2019t made a difference at all.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">The Clippers rank 27th in opponent fast-break points. That\u2019s a perfect recipe for the young guns in Detroit. Make this a game of youth and legs. Force the older guys to run.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">37-year-old Brook Lopez has started the last two games, and it\u2019s safe to say he\u2019s made an impact. He buried *nine* 3s in their last outing. He\u2019s been the ultimate 3-and-D big in the second portion of his career. Another game to track Jalen Duren\u2019s play against stretch bigs. I\u2019d say he\u2019s been much better in those matchups than years past.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Foul trouble limited Duren against the Jazz, so he should be fired up, ready to abuse the Clippers. With Ivica Zubac out for the foreseeable future, Lopez is the only center on this Clippers roster with extended NBA experience. We need dominant Duren.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Harden has turned back the clock, averaging 26.3 points \u2014 his highest average since he averaged 34 in 2020. He\u2019s a special player. All the special guys draw Ausar Thompson, and twin is coming off a brief 15-minute outing. I\u2019d bet he\u2019s eager to get back on the floor immediately.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Ty Lue-led Clippers teams can usually count on having a good to great defense. Not this year. Their overall defense is as bad as their transition D. The Clippers are the 28th-ranked defense on the season with garbage time filtered out.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">They\u2019ve played better the last two weeks (3-2 record, No. 7 offense), but their defense is still below league average during their best stretch of basketball.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">This used to be a matchup where I\u2019d think \u201cyeah, they have the defensive infrastructure to muck it up for Cade\u201d. I\u2019m not there anymore, as the want-to and personnel aren\u2019t the same for the little brothers in LA. Cade will be out for blood looking to avenge that last-second miss in Salt Lake City.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Kawhi Leonard can ramp up the defense in big moments, but he\u2019s not his 2014 self anymore. It\u2019s just good to see him on the floor. He\u2019s averaging 26 a game like Harden, but Kawhi is shooting a bonkers 98.2 percent from the FT line. Jos\u00e9 Calder\u00f3n holds the all-time record at 98.1 percent. Kawhi is more than in range.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">All in all, the Pistons have a lot of things working in their favor in this matchup. Force the Clippers to run and score when advantageous opportunities present themselves. These Clippers aren\u2019t a heavy second effort team \u2014 the antithesis of these Pistons.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Cade Cunningham, Duncan Robinson, Ausar Thompson, Tobias Harris, Jalen Duren<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Los Angeles Clippers (9-21)<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">James Harden, Kris Dunn, Kawhi Leonard, John Collins, Brook Lopez<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">JB Bickerstaff is the best Pistons coach since?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Detroit Pistons dropped a close one to the Utah Jazz, then the Jazz turned around and beat&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":501497,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3773],"tags":[7,296,188,52275,3860,6,297,53269],"class_list":{"0":"post-501496","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-detroit-pistons","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-detroit","10":"tag-detroit-pistons","11":"tag-detroit-pistons-game-day","12":"tag-detroitpistons","13":"tag-nba","14":"tag-pistons","15":"tag-pistons-previews"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115798325836858699","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/501496","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=501496"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/501496\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/501497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=501496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=501496"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=501496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}