Ahead of a crucial Game 4 against the Orlando Magic, Detroit Pistons head coach JB Bickerstaff has important rotation decisions to make. Through the first three games of the series, Bickerstaff has been pressing all the buttons to try to find the optimal lineup combinations. The lack of true two-way players around Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren has hurt the team, and it remains a near-impossible problem to solve at this point in the season.
The Pistons have to sacrifice from one end of the floor, depending on who is on the court. There are defense-first players who cause serious spacing issues on the other end. Or, some offensive players have a target on their backs defensively.
Duncan Robinson is the most obvious example of this big Pistons problem.
Duncan Robinson Creates As Many Problems As He's Solving for Pistons
The 32-year-old small forward is Detroit's only elite shooter. The Pistons are desperate for his off-ball gravity and shooting. The floor spacing he provides is the only hope for Cunningham and Duren to get going offensively.
The issue is that Robinson is a horrendous defender. Bickerstaff has Robinson out there for his offense, but at times, he gives away more defensively than he adds offensively. This makes finding the right balance of how much and when to play Robinson a very difficult question.
Against Orlando's starting lineup, Robinson doesn't have a place to hide defensively. He has been spending most of his time guarding Desmond Bane or Jalen Suggs. This helps both guards to get going when matched up against Robinson. It also allows Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner to target Robinson endlessly.
By involving Robinson in the action in pick-and-rolls, Banchero and Wagner can get to the rim or the free-throw line with ease. Not being able to stay in front of either player, Robinson has consistently been in foul trouble throughout the series, fouling ten times in three games.
In Game 1, the Pistons had a miserable 134 defensive rating when Robinson was on the floor. In Game 3, Detroit had a 123.2 defensive rating with Robinson on the court. Both of these numbers would have ranked dead last in the NBA in the regular season. Throughout the series, the Pistons have allowed 7.5 points per 100 possessions more with Robinson on the floor than when he is not.
At this point, it's clear that Robinson hurts the Pistons significantly defensively. Is his offense good enough to compensate for his defensive issues?
In the regular season, it was. Whether that's been the case in the playoffs so far is unclear. But Bickerstaff is running out of time to find the answer to that question. Let's hope that the search for an answer to that question doesn't end up costing the Pistons the series.
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