Miami Heat Stat Monkey Brief: Heat/Pistons (1/25/13)

The Heat came back from their long rest with a comeback overtime victory against the Raptors on Wednesday. Tonight, they look to extend the winning streak to four against Detroit, which brings us to today’s trivia question. Who, by our nERD rankings, is the highest ranked player in the East not featured in the All-Star Game? It’s not Brook Lopez or David West – it’s Pistons rookie Andre Drummond.

While Drummond hasn’t yet been given a huge role in minutes nor a large share of the looks on offense when he is on the floor, he has played spectacularly in the chances he has been given. He is efficient on offense with an effective field goal percentage of 61.5 percent. He has also been extremely effective defensively with a DRtg of 96. Of the top 20 lineups the Pistons have used this year, only 10 have scored more points than their opponents per 100 possessions; Andre Drummond is in nine of these lineups. Add in second ranked offensive rebounding percentage and eleventh ranked defensive rebounding percentage, and you have a player that deserve a shot at bigger role and possible a rookie of the year contender.

Keys to the Game

Rebounds
The Heat were dominant on the glass against an admittedly weak rebounding team in the Raptors on Wednesday, but seeing them rebound better than any team lately is a feat. Detroit is an above average team on the offensive glass with a 29.3 offensive rebounding percentage, but are worse defensively with a 72.8 defensive rebounding percentage. I will continue to bring it up as long as the Heat are terrible at it - rebounding will be key in this game.

Turnovers
Detroit is among the weakest teams in the league on turnovers on both ends of the floor. They can’t hold on to the ball and they are unable to make the opposing team do so. Miami is an above average team in this regard, so they will look to capitalize on this weakness and turn extra possessions into extra points.