The Detroit Pistons fell at home in their first preseason game against the New York Knicks. Let’s take a look at three takeaways from this game.
After a nine-month layoff, the Detroit Pistons took the floor at Little Caesars Arena against the visiting New York Knicks. It’s just the preseason, but after so long away, we’d be remiss to not dig in on this game for what we might learn.
Without any further delay, let’s take a look at three way-too-early takeaways from their 90-84 loss to the Knicks.
1. Blake Griffin has some spring in his step
Other than the rookies taking steps in the right direction this season, Blake Griffin getting through this season in a healthy and productive fashion is paramount. This is largely so the Pistons can do right by him and trade him to a contender later in the season, and of course be compensated with some combinations of young players and assets.
It’s also because Blake Griffin is one of those players who the NBA is better with. He’s been one of the most exciting players in the league for most of his career, and as his athleticism waned he put his high intellect to work in order to reconstruct his game. He did this effectively in his first full season in Detroit (only full season, actually) in 2018-19, and he carried his team to the playoffs.
As we know now, the injuries suffered late in that season and playoff series caused him to miss most of last season as well, and he’s had almost a year off since getting shut down right after Christmas. At least in this first game back, Griffin had some of that athletic spark that he lost last season.
He had nearly preternatural vision with his passes and hit a couple of threes, including an early step-back.
Blake Griffin scored just nine points on 3-of-11 shooting, but he added seven rebounds and five assists, and we saw more of the old Blake than in the entirety of last season. Doesn’t mean much just yet, but the early signs are encouraging.