Detroit Pistons: 3 takeaways from Game 1 vs. Bucks

1. The offense needs a shakeup with Griffin on the bench

Dribble handoffs with Kennard and pick-and-rolls with Andre Drummond were the main and only sources of offense for the Pistons in the first half. They didn’t try to run ball screens with Kennard as the ball-handler, and the team doesn’t have the shooting big to threaten opposing defenses in the pick-and-pop with Griffin out. With those limitations, they have to find a way to hurt the Bucks outside of those two ways.

If your two best players are Drummond and Kennard, then run the offense through those two. Allow them to play with the ball in their hands, and tell the other players to fit in around them. Reggie Jackson, despite having the best 3-point shooting season of his career at 36.9 percent, took just one 3-point shot in this game. The Bucks defense was good, but the Pistons were still able to generate a number of open looks from deep. They just didn’t fall.

No matter the Indiana Pacers–Boston Celtics game showed us, 86 points isn’t going to cut it in the playoffs. Shots are going to fall at a higher percentage moving forward, but the Pistons just have to do more when they are given the opportunities. They have to bounce back in Game 2 to keep this series close, because, if they go down 2-0, it won’t matter that they’re going back home if they’re playing like this.