Game Recap/Notes: Game #12. Pistons 127 - Raptors 121. (3-9)
Nice to get in the win column again, even nicer to do it in such a fun fashion. Also remains historically funny that the Raptors cannot beat Dwane Casey.
Killian Hayes:
Best game of Hayes’ young career? Maybe? 13 points on 8 shot equivalents with 10 assists (against just 3 turnovers) and 7 rebounds is a rock-solid outing for the young point guard. He hit spot-up threes going 3-4 from deep, added a few nice drives, just involved in tons of stuff and consistently making the right play and rarely forcing things. He is probably never going to round into the James Harden-style player some billed him as in the draft, but this sort of confident and comfortable table-setter is something we will all take. Seems as though Killian is finding some real comfort in where he belongs in this team as well.
I want to take a moment to especially highlight his defense. Anyone who has followed my thinking over the last 5 years (good god has it been that long??) knows that I am the king of pumping the brakes on young players’ defense. Whether with Bruce Brown or KCP before him, I was the guy going “yeah let’s chill he still does plenty of bad stuff on defense.” I am the opposite here. Killian Hayes may already be the best perimeter defender the Pistons have had since Tayshaun Prince, this is the birth of an All-NBA defender. I still have no idea if he will find the consistency offensively to work out, but his defense is absurdly good for such an inexperienced player. When he blocked Dragic’s turnaround jumper, that’s the sort of play that dudes don’t make. And he rarely gets lost on defense. I’m rambling here but I cannot say enough nice things about this kid on defense. I know I said that the in-depth video posts probably can’t happen due to time constraints but his defense may need one.
Cade Cunningham:
Didn’t stand out in the box score, 10 points on 10 shots with 4 assists. But he came up big at the end of the game with some huge buckets, including an absolutely filthy crossover. There is work for Cade to find his place in the offense over the course of the game, not that he isn’t assertive but he is not the guy to totally force his way in all the time. But he knows what he has in his bag when it counts and wants the ball then. Also just very nice to see him continue to show good play after a rough couple of games to start.
Saddiq Bey:
Found his shot, hopefully, this is what he needed. Sporting a new haircut, Bey scored 16 points on 14 equivalents and shot 3-7 from deep. Tacked on 8 rebounds and 5 assists. Still seems to be something a little bit off with him, but hopefully seeing the ball go through the hoop a few times will get him going for the future.
Jerami Grant:
Continues to show better form. A super-efficient 24 points with 5 assists. He seems to be falling into a better spot in the offense with Killian and Cade becoming fully activated. Grant is not a primary offensive option even if he is the leading scorer, he is clearly at his best when attacking off of actions initiated by others and that’s mostly where he was tonight. Also made a huge block on the defensive end.
Isaiah Stewart:
Huge game for Stew. The Raptors consistently lost him in the paint when trying to cover the drives of the Pistons perimeter players and the passing of Killian and Cade found no problem in spoon-feeding Stewart dunks on the way to a 20 point night on just 12 shot equivalents. I wouldn’t get too worked up about this one, most defenses are not going to lose him as often as Toronto did tonight, but it has to feel good for Stewart given his struggles on the offensive end. Also hopefully it proves to everyone else on the roster that if they move to the open space Killian and Cade will find them for easy buckets.
Josh Jackson:
Jackson seems to be settling into the defacto 6th man for the Pistons and while that isn’t totally ideal, the Pistons bench has been such booty that it’s their best option. He finished tonight with 15 points on 12 shot equivalents. He does make some inexplicable mistakes and occasionally takes shots that are very bad, but with the Pistons bench being what they are, I think that treating Jackson like a knuck-ball pitcher is a decent idea. You toss him on the floor and buckle your seatbelt for 5 minutes and whatever happens happens.
Cory Joseph:
Scored 7 points. Was fine. He’s not as bad as Steve Blake was but he’s pretty much in that zone for me now. I just don’t want to talk about this dude. Please get Lee out of the G-League for these minutes.
Frank Jackson:
Hit a few shots, drew a ton of fouls for some reason. 14 points on 11 shot equivalents (6-7 from the line) makes a solid night for Jackson. Frank Jackson represents a quietly important swing guy for this team. He may end up not being an NBA caliber player but he also has a chance to be a solid rotation player, if he can hit that higher side it would be a great find for the franchise.
Trey Lyles:
8 points on 3-3 shooting. Still wish they would just run Garza in the backup center minutes so we can find out if he can play, Lyles did play well tonight though.