Detroit Pistons forward Jamorko Pickett (54) defends. Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports
The Detroit Pistons are the second lowest scoring team in the NBA. With the loss of leading points producer Jerami Grant for an extended amount of time, now where will the points come from?
The Pistons were not exactly a scoring machine with Jerami Grant in the lineup. Detroit was next to last in scoring among NBA teams (the Thunder, who scored 42 points against them in the fourth quarter, are last), with Grant averaging 20 points a game.
The math is simple. The Pistons score 99.5 points per game. Grant accounts for, on average, about 20.5 of those points. But now we are taking his points away, at least for the next six weeks:
NEWS: The #Pistons announced today that test results performed yesterday on Jerami Grant’s hand revealed a UCL ligament sprain of the right thumb. The injury occurred during the second quarter of our game at New Orleans on December 10. (1/2)
— Detroit Pistons (@DetroitPistons) December 12, 2021
It does not take a basketball genius to figure out this really screws up Detroit on offense, not that they were doing so hot with Grant in the lineup. The healthy players are averaging a total of 79 points a game. If everyone simply scores their current average, that will not even be close to enough.
For anyone who has watched the Pistons play this season, they have two basic plays.
The only players averaging in double figure are Grant, the already long-term injured Kelly Olynyk, Cunningham and Saddiq Bey, who has struggled with his outside shooting.
After missing the entire preseason and first few games with an ankle injury, Cunningham has come along, and is now the Pistons ‘go-to’ guy down the stretch. But unless Cunningham turns into Wilt Chamberlain, and he can score 100 points in a game, other players need to step up.
The loss of Grant means the 16 shots a game he attempts are up for grabs. Who will take them now? Unless the players intend to stare at each other for 24 seconds, someone has to.
Of course, this is an all-hands-on-deck situation. Every member of the team needs to contribute more offensively. That does not mean just throw up junk. The shots need to be good ones, and actually go in the basket (a major problem already for Detroit).
Not having both Grant and Olynyk to an offensively-challenged team like the Pistons will be a real challenge. But it is a challenge these five players, as well as the others, must accept and take hold of.
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