After adding Blake Griffin before the trade deadline, the Detroit Pistons are two spots behind the Philadelphia 76ers. With more experience under their belt, will Detroit pass the Sixers down the stretch?
"“After winning five straight, there was some concern the Pistons were standing around on offense, watching Griffin operate. Not the problem here. They simply stood around on defense and watched the Pelicans operate, and when superstar Anthony Davis (38 points) has room, he uses it and abuses it.Stan Van Gundy was perplexed. So were Andre Drummond and Griffin. You could call it inexplicable, except that this team bounces up and down so wildly, it’s impossible to know what’s next. It definitely was inexcusable, as the Pistons wadded up the goodwill from the Griffin deal and tossed it aside. Just when they started grabbing long-sought attention, they dropped this hideous bomb.”"
The above quote from Bob Wojnowski’s article detailing the Detroit Pistons’ 118-103 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans. What I found so interesting about this quote, is that it’s the exact opposite of what I thought would happen once the Pistons traded Tobias Harris, Avery Bradley, Boban Marjanovic, and picks to the Los Angeles Clippers for Griffin, Willie Reed, and Brice Johnson.
Before the Pistons traded for Griffin on Jan. 29, they had 22 wins and 26 losses and were not too far behind the Philadelphia 76ers’ 24 wins and 23 losses. I worried that adding Griffin would’ve been enough to allow the Pistons to win slightly more than they lose, and with the Sixers’ tendency to occasionally lose to a bad team they should’ve beaten easily, it seemed possible that the Pistons might pass them in the standings at some point.
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I now realize that these concerns were overblown.
The Sixers are the seventh seed with 31 wins and 25 losses, while the Pistons are two spots behind them in the ninth seed with 28 wins and 29 losses. While the Pistons lead the Sixers in bench points per game (21st to 26th) and opponent points per game (8th to 14th), the Sixers lead the Pistons in points per game (9th to 23rd), rebounds (1st to 18th), and assists (3rd to 13th).
Where the Sixers’ true advantage over the Pistons really shows itself, is the play from their two best players.
With the experience 12 years of combined NBA play between Griffin and Drummond to the one year of combined NBA experience between Embiid and Simmons, it’s natural to assume that experience would give the Pistons an advantage until evaluating each player’s stats.
Griffin is averaging 22.2 points, 5.6 assists, and eight rebounds per game. Drummond is averaging 15.1 points, 3.6 assists, and 15.7 rebounds per game. While Griffin would’ve been selected to the All-Star game if he hadn’t missed 16 games before being traded to the Pistons and Drummond was selected over Simmons, it’s clear that Embiid is a better player than Griffin and Simmons is a better player than Drummond.
Embiid is averaging 23.7 points, 3.1 assists, and 11.1 rebounds per game. Simmons is averaging 16.4 points, 7.3 assists, and 7.8 rebounds per game.
Next: Breaking down the Sixers' remaining schedule
Despite the Pistons going all-in to make the playoffs, it’s safe to say they’re more of a threat to the eighth seed Miami Heat than the Sixers.