Having had time to think about the loss, I'm less worried from the long term. Obviously we don't want to lose these types of games with the East so congested because one or two losses could be what separates us from home court advantage and the play in tournament. We've dropped 7 clutch games, either where we lost by a couple of points or had a huge lead overhauled or gave up a huge lead and just fell short. We can now add this to that total for 8. So a bad loss in that sense.
That said, I don't think this really derails us. The Pistons shot 53% from 3, it's really hard to beat a team when they shoot that well, regardless of their position on the table. The question we have to ask is how much of their good shooting had to do with us defending badly, and how much had to do with them just killing it from range (Philly was probably asking themselves that question last night when we shot 55%). The advanced stats for the game aren't out yet, and I haven't watched the game yet so I don't know how many of them were open shots. I suspect Smartacus not being there had an impact on our ability to defend the perimeter. If he is out for an extended period of time we could be in some strife but apparently his ankle isn't too serious and he should be back end of ASB?
In a way if we had to lose a bad game it's good to get it out of the way now where we lose to a no hoper team. It will bring the team back to earth and make them realize they're not as special as they might think they are, and they need to keep putting the work in to be successful, because on a night when you're not on your game this can happen. That's good food for thought going into the break.
Yeah, I agree that ultimately this game doesn't tell us much about where we are as a team.
That said, some observations:
1. Part of being a coach is developing your lesser players to step in if there are injuries. Ime hasn't done a good job this year of forcing minutes to our backups, particularly Nesmith and Pritchard. Teams can't expect that they are going to be healthy at all times, so they need to incorporate their depth. This is what makes Spoelstra a great coach. Ime needs to learn this skill.
2. The team wasn't focused. I thought we were past taking teams for granted, but we were noticeably lazier in this game. 15 turnovers and much less ball movement that we've been seeing.
3. Our team needs a rebounding clinic after last night. Apparently we're relying on Timelord too much, because our forwards / wings weren't trying at all on the boards, and Horford / Theis / Williams were outmatched. 18 offensive rebounds for Detroit, 2 for us! That was the difference in the game.
4. Derrick White is still adjusting. You can see he's a smart player, but he doesn't know the system fully. His shooting has been pretty terrible, particularly outside of his first game (3-for-19 3PT the last three games). You can clearly see the defensive skills, though.
4. All that said, these games happen. Just last night, Phoenix was in a dog fight with Houston.
