Game Recap/Notes: Game #11. Pistons 112 - Knicks 121. (3-10)
Hard to imagine a whole lot better for a night without Cade Cunningham, the Pistons never fell all the way out of the game but were consistently down by double digits. It seemed pretty clear that they just didn’t have the goods without Cade to close the gap on a Knicks team that played pretty well.
Corey Joseph:
Got the start in Cunningham’s absence but thankfully only played 6 minutes due to foul trouble.
Jaden Ivey:
Would’ve liked Ivey to have a better night without Cade, he had some big buckets but didn’t ever put much of a stamp on the game. 10 points on 13 shot equivalents and 4 assists. That isn’t terrible, but would’ve liked him to be more aggressive in searching for his own. He did have a pair of nice steals.
Saddiq Bey:
Was heavily involved early and faded later. Finished the game with 11 points on as many shot equivalents and 5 rebounds, didn’t hit a three and is now in danger of having his three-point percentage drop below 30%. Another guy that we would’ve liked to see pull the trigger more with Cade out and he ended up only playing 27 minutes and not being on the floor down the stretch.
Bojan Bogdanovic:
The one starter who did step up with Cade out. 25 points on 18-shot equivalents. Having as good a night scoring as he did without hitting a three is a testament to his aggression. Also even had three assists which is not like him. Bojan came into the game looking for his own shot and was largely successful in getting to his spots.
Isaiah Stewart:
Played a good game. 13 points on 4-7 from the field, 2-4 from deep, and 3-4 from the line. It should also be noted that one of those missed threes was a half-court heave. I mentioned in the preview that if he can keep on his current efficiency trajectory teams may start to guard him. So far, so good.
Killian Hayes:
Played 34 minutes and had another game that was pretty good! 11 points on 12 shots is not great but it isn’t terrible, add in 6 boards, 7 assists, and the fact that he was aggressive in creating some offense in the half-court and you’ve got a genuinely solid offensive showing from Hayes. Perhaps the best news is that I think his defense is solidly back to where he had shown he was capable. 3 steals, harassing the entire night. I have no idea if Killian can ever solidify some sort of offensive game but his defense is incredible.
Isaiah Livers:
11 points on 6 shots, all of which were from deep, played with the starters for some stretches and had one awesome block on a Derrick Rose drive where he rose up and swatted a layup off the backboard. He really is Anthony Tolliver but with hair.
Alec Burks:
In his first action as a Piston, Burks did not disappoint. 17 points on 5-12 from the field and 6-8 from the line. His three-point shot wasn’t great, but he looked like exactly the sort of “instant offense” type that the Pistons needed coming off the bench. He came into the game ready to shoot, and went for his shot regularly. Other good news is that if we extrapolate from the minutes that were played it would suggest that, once Cade is healthy, CoJo may be the guy bumped out of the rotation.
Jalen Duren:
Not much impact in 21 minutes. Scored one point on two trips to the line, had 8 rebounds, struggled to get into the game which was disappointing.
Hamidou Diallo:
13 points on 15 minutes of play. 4-5 from the field and 5-6 from the line. This is basically a broken record at this point but it’s just hard to believe that a guy with such ability going to the hoop won’t have value on a good team. He is such an awkward fit but he brings value to the bench.
There will be no opponent scouting since they literally just played the Celtics.