Betrayer

Glad it went up from 20, but if it were me I would've mirrored him to Brunson at about 36 minutes. What JB can't do is continue to have Beasley and THJ on the court at the same time, especially with Schroder. That lineup just gets killed. Another thing JB should do is consider subbing Duren out early since Tobias is guarding KAT anyway. That way Duren won't need his rest right at the same time Mitch Robinson comes in. You've got to have Duren out there the entire time Robinson is on the court because nobody else is big enough to keep him off the glass.

Maybe JB needs to resort to Tibbs strategy and just ride the starters for 40+ minutes tonight.

Minnesota is tough to root for, but I was happy to see the Lakers go down in flames. Now hopefully Denver and Houston can send Harden and Draymond to Cancun next.

I'm ok with that. The team improved greatly, but Cade was Cade last year too. Just nobody was watching because we were terrible. His stats went up a notch this year, but he was already a #1 pick that was knocking on the door of being an All-Star. This award is for guys like Ausar next year when he shows what he can do with 30 mpg or maybe what Jaden Ivey was doing this year before he went down with the injury.

Could've stopped at "Shaq is a clown." The show was so much better before they added him.

Outside of last game, he's had a really good series. He's matched up against an All NBA player and played him at least even last night once again. And he's doing it on both ends.

Yes!!!! This team has cost me so many years with these close games. Did JB finally figure out that Ausar’s minutes need to mirror Brunson? We’ll find out Thursday. Let’s get one at home.

Why put Schroeder in there to defend? Bridges just shoots right over him like a road cone.

For a team that was great at challenges in the regular season I don’t understand what they’re doing in the playoffs.

You and me both.

We’re not calling that carry by Hart then? Ok. btw, this was a 10pt game when Ausar sat down. Now it’s 1.

At least don’t make it that obvious refs.

Officiating off to a great start.

Ausar comes out and the game swings just like that. All of a sudden Brunson is straight line driving to the rim, guys have to help, and then the defense is in rotation.

That’s because Ausar’s on the bench 🤣 Seriously though, crunch time isn’t really relevant because coaches can switch offense for defense on nearly every possession in the last 2 minutes. As for the rest of the 4th, it’s the same as the rest of the game. You need your guy who clamps up their best guy and gets you into your best offense - transition. Again, the numbers (facts) tell the story clearly. We can argue theory all day, but we don’t have to - the data is there.

Amen's handle is a bit better, but their numbers are nearly identical when you make the minutes/possessions match. Difference is Amen has a coach that's playing him 31 mpg.

The numbers don't lie. They're better on offense and way better on defense with him on the court. Why? Because the half-court offense is bad either way so the defensive stops and transition opportunities make a far bigger difference on the offense than that 1 extra average shooter. Also, the stats for Bruson when Ausar is on/off are bonkers. So, you're also making their best player completely inefficient. It's the reason the team magically started playing better when Ausar got healthy and Ivey went down to open up a slot in the starting lineup. This has been true all year. They're a bad half-court offense that becomes a decent offense when Ausar is in the lineup to get stops and give them transition opportunities.

Ku bringing in some of the numbers on the Ausar debate:

The NBA will facilitate him going to Miami for Herro and a single first rounder, like they did for the Lakers.

This is exactly it. They let a lot off-ball contact and paint contact go, but not jump shooters getting bodied.

JB's biggest failing this post-season has been limiting Ausar's minutes. This team turned a corner when Ausar was put in the starting lineup in early January and they won all season long by turning defense into offense. They aren't a team that can let you score and match you offense-for-offense in the half-court because they only have 1 All Star. We won Ausar's minutes by 8 points in this game. We made the run in the second half based on defense with Ausar on the court. Overall in the playoffs the Pistons are 13 points better on defense and 1 point better on offense when Ausar's on the floor. This is simple stuff that's apparent whether you're using the eye test or looking at analytics.

“Our bad. Enjoy the offseason.” What a joke, but totally on-brand for this series.

Wow. That’s a foul 100 percent of the time.

Hell of a finish to the quarter and Tobias came up big! Gotta be happy to only be down 7 when you played bad enough to be down by 20.

It’s the right play when the Knicks are trapping the screen, which they are quite often.