Detroit Pistons: Breaking down their recent struggles

2. PG defense

During this rough patch of games, the Pistons have been absolutely cooked by opposing point guards. Kemba Walker of the Hornets and Jrue Holiday of the New Orleans Pelicans both exploded for 30-point games against Motor City. In terms of their offensive and defensive ratings, defense has been their strength, but that’s not as true when it comes to defending opposing point guards.

Reggie Jackson has never been known for his defensive talents, and the absence of Ish Smith‘s skills on that end of the floor is even more evident with the stat lines they are allowing. Smith isn’t as stout as some of the other point guard defenders in the NBA, such as Marcus Smart of the Boston Celtics, but he is playing about twice as well as Jackson on that end of the floor at this point in the season.

The NBA, for better or worse, is moving more and more toward favoring the offensive player. While the Pistons don’t need Jackson or Smith to become defensive stoppers, they have to do more to slow down opposing point guards. When looking at the Eastern Conference and some of the point guards that are trotted out such as Kyrie Irving, Kyle Lowry and John Wall, Detroit’s backcourt just has to be better to be competitive.