David Reginek-Imagn Images
Let’s take a look at the film to see how JB Bickerstaff and his coaching staff can exploit the New York Knicks.
The
Detroit Pistons will take on the
New York Knicks in Round 1 of the
NBA Playoffs, with Game 1 starting on Saturday at 6 p.m. ET. It’s the first time Detroit has made the playoffs since 2019 (shoutout Blake Griffin), and they’re looking for their first playoff win since 2008. As depressing as those facts are, it feels like this year’s Pistons team is different - and very capable of winning this playoff series.
The Knicks won 51 games and finished as the 3-seed in the Eastern Conference. Despite having a strong season, it was only a 1-win improvement from last year as New York struggled with injuries late into the season. Let’s let our good friend James Edwards III summarize their year
in his own words:
“Instead, the Knicks went 0-10 against the league’s top three teams (the
Celtics, Cavaliers and Thunder). And even when you remove those teams from the equation, the Knicks were still an underwhelming 15-13 against teams with a winning record. They were 9-20 against the league’s top-10 defenses.”
Guess what? The Pistons have a winning record and finished with a top-10 defense. They finished the year 3-1 in their four games against the Knicks. Detroit can certainly match up well with New York, given the versatility on the Pistons roster — and maybe win the series.
The fun part about playoff basketball is how much more coaching and game-planning plays a role compared to the regular season. When you face the same team for at least four games in a row, you look to exploit mismatches and focus on attacking the weaknesses of the other team. Maybe JB Bickerstaff will shorten the rotation, and he’ll certainly have to get creative with who’s guarding the weapons of New York’s offense. Let’s take a look at what we can expect to see on the court in this playoff series.
How will Detroit’s offense attack New York’s defense?
New York has a lot of strong perimeter defenders, specifically OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges, and Josh Hart. We’ve seen Cade cook Bridges multiple times this season, so I would expect OG to have the tall task of guarding Cade in this series. That means Jalen Brunson would have to guard Ausar Thompson or Tim Hardaway Jr, and Detroit can exploit that by using them as a screener to involve Brunson in the play.
In this first clip, Brunson is guarding THJ, and THJ sets a screen to force New York to switch. Brunson then ends up on Cade, and Cade is too big for Brunson to stand a chance without any help - easy buckets.
Detroit runs the same set a quarter later, but this time New York responds by doubling Cade. With both Brunson and McBride on Cade, THJ is at the top of the key, and Cade finds him for a wide-open three.
Lastly, Cade can also let it fly off the dribble. I enjoy that Cade points at THJ to come set the screen to force Brunson to get involved defensively, and Duren heads to the opposite side dunker spot to clear the right side of the court for Cade. Brunson shows to help, Achuiwa goes under the screen, and Cade makes them pay.
This is why New York is going to send everything they have at Cade. He can post up smaller defenders, make the correct read to find open teammates, or punish sagging defenders by hitting off-the-dribble threes. JB Bickerstaff will seek out these mismatches to put Cade in the best position to make plays for his team like he has done all season.
How does Detroit’s defense slow down New York’s offense?
The Pistons have some versatile pieces on their roster to throw different looks at New York. Starters Jalen Duren and Ausar Thompson will certainly have their hands full with Karl-Anthony Towns and Jalen Brunson, but bench defenders Isaiah Stewart and Ron Holland can also provide help to give New York trouble for 48 minutes straight.
I would expect Ausar to draw the Jalen Brunson matchup. I would also expect to see Cade, Holland, and Schroder to see some minutes guarding Brunson as well. However, I find the Duren-KAT matchup to be the most interesting in this series. Duren’s defense has improved throughout the year, but a center of KAT’s archetype is not an easy player to guard.
I believe there are two solutions to guarding KAT if Duren struggles:
- Play Isaiah Stewart more
- Get creative with defensive assignments
KAT is so difficult to guard because of his ability to put the ball on the floor as a 7-footer - he’s essentially a gigantic guard. Since he’s one of the best shooting bigs in NBA history, Duren has to guard him high in case he attempts a jump shot, but he has struggled this season on dribble drives.
Pistons fans on Detroit Bad Boys have commented for years that Isaiah Stewart can be extremely valuable in a bench role in the playoffs, and that couldn’t be more true for this upcoming series. Beef Stew offers a different skillset than Duren, and despite being undersized, he has the side-to-side speed to keep up with KAT on drives and can force KAT into taking some tough shots at the rim.
This may be a series where Isaiah Stewart sees more minutes than Jalen Duren, and that’s not a knock on JD - this is playoff basketball. If JB Bickerstaff wants to set screens with guards to force mismatches, this may be a series where Stewart’s defensive play is needed more than Duren’s vertical gravity when he rolls to the rim.
However, this all depends on who’s on the court for the Knicks. Maybe Thibs goes big and plays Mitchell Robinson and KAT together, and you could put Duren on Robinson and Tobias Harris on KAT.
Or, maybe JB Bickerstaff changes matchups in the starting lineup where Tobias guards KAT and Duren guards Josh Hart. This sets up Duren to provide help defense at the rim if KAT wants to post-up Tobias, and the team lives with 33% three-point shooter Hart taking open jumpers.
This is the exciting part about playoff basketball. It’s about outcoaching the other team and getting creative to present the opponent with new looks that they weren’t prepared for. The knock on JB Bickerstaff in the past has been about his playoff coaching performance and his inability to adjust. JBB has the tools on the roster to throw a lot of different looks at New York, and it will be needed if they’re going to win this playoff series.
