Game Recap/Notes: Game #2. Pistons 101 - Cavs 113 (0-2)
Turnovers sink the Pistons
Frustrating game. Pistons got a great shooting performance (40.6% from deep as a team!) and an altogether not horrible defensive outing against a Cavs team that is probably going to end up being really good, yet blew any real chance of sticking in this game with 22 turnovers.
Cade Cunningham:
I would’ve loved to give him the honors for his 33-point, 6 assists, 4 rebound game on 14-24 shooting. HOWEVER, 9 turnovers and a -14 (second worst in the entire game) means I must withhold the honors. Cade’s game was really a microcosm of the game for the Pistons as a team. The shot-making was there in spades whether getting to the hoop or taking jumpers. On the possessions where Cade didn’t give the ball to Cleveland, he looked like a superstar, and yet, he couldn’t stop giving the ball to Cleveland.
To be clear though, this wasn’t some horrible night for Cunningham. Even with the turnovers he did score an efficient 33 points. Unless someone other than Ivey and Cunningham emerge as legit offensive creators, both guys will probably have stinkers this season as they are asked to carry so much of the creative load on the offensive end. As long as these big turnover numbers don’t become a habit we can let it slide as the cost of doing business.
Jaden Ivey:
Like Cunningham, it was a really impressive shot-making night for Ivey. 22 points on 8-16 shooting from the field along with 4 assists and 5 rebounds. Turnovers did not hamper Ivey’s game, he had just 2, but rather he got into early foul trouble and missed a significant chunk of the game. He still got to 29 minutes but with how he was playing my guess is they would’ve loved to get him closer to 35. Yet still a highly positive outing for Ivey. 2-5 from deep to continue positive shooting, along with acrobatic finishes (he had like 3 more absurd, hang-in-the-air-double-clutch layups tonight) and decent playmaking as well.
Tim Hardaway Jr:
Only played 23 minutes, 9 points on 3-6 shooting with 3 rebounds doesn’t feel that crazy, and yet in 23 minutes he managed to go -20 and Bickerstaff seemed to prefer Malik Beasley over him later in the game which has got to count for something.
Tobias Harris:
10 points is not going to cut it, even if he got 5 boards and 4 assists to supplement it a bit. Obviously the spacing Harris provides is valuable whether he’s scoring or not, ditto for his general veteran competence moving off the ball both on offense and defense. And yet, 10 points just isn’t going to cut it. Only 2 games in but it almost feels like he’s a bit out of place in the offense right now, like they don’t know how to get him the ball in truly advantageous spots.
Jalen Duren:
Not ideal!
In 29 minutes Duren had 5 points on 2-4 shooting, 7 rebounds, 5 assists (his passing, inside his athletic profile, is the most intriguing thing about him still by far), and 5 personal fouls. The defense simply isn’t there and while I think its fair to say that his lower points total tonight can be somewhat reflected into the ease that Ivey and Cade had scoring for themselves, as the Cavs bent their defense toward avoiding easy buckets for Duren, but I’m not putting too much credit there.
The fact of the matter is that it seems he simply hasn’t made a step on defense. Maybe he will look improved by the time the season is over and he’s still full of youth, but this level of defense simply isn’t going to cut it. Some of the decisions he makes on defense, in terms of when to pursue blocks vs staying home for instance, are just absurd. He will come off his man to protect the rim against a ball-handler who has gained no separation on one possession, then total fail to help on a driving ball handler when the perimeter defender got totally cooked. His inability to make the right call on help defense is terrible.
Malik Beasley:
Another hot start shooting, finished with 13 points on 5-11 shooting (3-6 from deep). Didn’t do much else other than shoot but that’s all he’s here for. As noted in the Tim Hardaway section, it did seem that he won some of Hardaway’s minutes in the second half.
Simone Fontecchio:
Not exactly a banner start for Fontecchio, 5 points on 1-4 shooting from the field with 2 rebounds and nothing else but a turnover in 20 minutes of play. Just hasn’t shown a whole lot.
Isaiah Stewart:
Only played 11 minutes courtesy of foul trouble. Yes, that’s right, in 11 minutes of play he somehow managed 5 personal fouls and 3 turnovers. No, I do not care that he apparently managed to go +9. This was atrocious, one of the worst individual performances I have seen an NBA player have. 11 minutes, 5 fouls, 3 turnovers, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, zero points.
The problem is that despite this, Duren’s defense is so bad that inevitably Bickerstaff will probably start siphoning minutes to Stewart because at least he tends to be in the right place. There is a certain irony to the way this team acquired a billion centers and now here we are in 2024 and the Pistons biggest issue may be that they have exactly zero centers who can play both ways. Stewart is basically playing 4 on 5 on offense, Duren actively hampers your defense, not good.
Ron Holland:
4 points on 2-6 shooting in 17 minutes. Some absurd stuff with the refs where he got a technical foul for talking, several laughable sequences where he made mistakes, but also pure hustle on his way to 7 rebounds. I do wonder if he will keep a rotation spot whenever Ausar returns.
Paul Reed:
Got some run due to foul trouble for the other centers, didn’t do anything of note. In 7 minutes he had 2 turnovers and went -12. This is frustrating because at some base level it’d be nice if he could be viable so that the Pistons can tell Duren or Stewart with a straight face that there is another option on the team.