Game Recap/Notes: Game #5. Pistons 105 - Sixers 95. (1-4)
The Pistons pick up their first win of the season against a depleted Sixers squad
The Sixers, minus Paul George and Joel Embiid, are not the most intimidating team in the world, but a win is a win especially when it’s the first. No complaints. The game was mostly competitive into the 3rd quarter where the Pistons started to really pull away and went into the 4th up by 18 and spent most of the 4th quarter in the classic malaise of not truly garbage time but everyone knows it’s pretty much over.
Cade Cunningham:
Solid night for Cunningham, even if not as bulky as some of his other games. 22 points on 6-15 shooting (4-8 from deep and 6-6 at the line) along with 7 assists and 5 rebounds is a tidy effort, especially when you toss in a +12 for good measure, although the turnover problem does persist with 5 here tonight. It is worth hovering on the turnovers a bit especially because of the regularity with which Cade simply doesn’t take good enough care of the ball, on one play Tyrese Maxey straight-up picked Cade’s pocket out towards the half line. Not a double team, not a bad pass, just lost the ball. That happens far too often for a player of Cade’s stature.
Jaden Ivey:
A nice bounce-back after a bit of a stinker although overall it’s a very similar story to Cade. 23 points on 9-17 shooting with 3 boards and 3 assists is nice, the 4 turnovers not so much although his tend to be more of the “I threw a bad pass or lost the ball in traffic going to the hoop” but still. It is also worth noting that Ivey’s scoring efficiency was helped a bit by a few wide-open transition dunks that were awesome but also not that difficult. The fact of the matter is though, that 5 games in both of the Pistons’ young back-court mates are playing effective ball both individually and together, the thing that’s exciting about this is that it’s still clear they are not comfortable on the floor together yet, which means that this could even get quite a bit better.
Tim Hardaway Jr:
16 points on 5-9 shooting from the field (5-7 from deep) in 31 minutes of play is exactly what you want from Hardaway who is already proving to be an excellent addition to the Pistons. No team was in as desperate need of someone who would come in and gun threes at a respectable efficiency and that is exactly what Hardaway has done since arriving, they mentioned this on the broadcast a couple of games ago but he’s like 5th in the league in 3-point makes over the last few years and he already leads the Pistons with 16 so far. He won’t shoot over 50% from deep all year, but he shouldn’t drop off too far.
Tobias Harris:
In his return to Philly, Tobias had a solid game where the efficiency wasn’t there but the volume was. 18 points on 8-18 from the field isn’t what we expect from Tobias (he also missed all 3 of his long guns) but being more assertive to take 18 shots isn’t a bad thing and he did bring in 14 rebounds (all defensive) which was big with Duren effectively being out of the game due to foul trouble.
Jalen Duren:
*fart noise*
In just 11 minutes, Jalen Duren managed to foul out. In those 11 minutes, he also grabbed 6 rebounds (3 offensive), but fouling out against Philly when they don’t even have Embiid feels unconscionable. We will talk about Stewart in more detail in just a moment, but we are not far from the Pistons needing to ask some hard questions about Duren. The potential is there, he does good things for the offense, but the combination of horrid defense and occasional bone-headed decisions was probably even making Andre Drummond blush. Stewart cannot be the long-term answer as a starting 5, we’ve seen that movie, but the Pistons might need to let Stew start for a bit, if nothing else to try and send a message to Duren. Also even though Stewart cannot be the long-term answer, he might be the best short-term answer, which is a problem for Duren and the Pistons.
Isaiah Stewart:
Played 34 minutes courtesy of Duren’s foul troubles. In those 34 minutes, he had 7 points and 11 rebounds along with 3 assists, a steal, and 3 blocks. He did rack up 4 fouls of his own but also finished with a team-high +18 on the night. The Stewart vs. Duren issue is picking up serious steam, I joined in by pointing out on Twitter the other day that the Pistons are nearly 20 points per 100 possessions better on defense with Stew on the floor than with Duren, the eye test for Duren defensively is awful as well. At this point its hard to argue that Stewart shouldn’t get a shot to start, the schedule has been brutal but if the Pistons want to even pretend to play meaningful games this season (as in, still theoretically have a shot at the play-in after the all-star break) they need to start winning, and the defensive stability that Stewart brings might tip the scale towards him.
Why are you so insistent he can’t be a long-term solution you hater
For starters let’s not act like a game against this depleted Sixers squad is exactly telling, Stewarts numbers other than the offensive glass were not remarkable (just like every other game) and his +18 has a great deal of noise even in the context of “Stew spent a decent amount of this game matchup up against the Sixers 3rd string center”.
Stewart’s lack of legit center size or athleticism puts a clear cap on his ability to contend with legit offensive bigs or effectively content the rim to slow down most slashing scorers. It’s worth noting that Tyrese Maxey happily sliced the Pistons to shreds for long portions of this game held back largely by an uncharacteristic 2-10 shooting night from deep.
Most importantly, we’ve seen this movie. And Isaiah Stewart might be the most Aron Baynes of backup bigs since Aron Baynes. A significant part of his value is tied up in his all-gas-no-breaks manic-effort style, which plays directly into Stew’s offensive rebounding, which has been by far his best skill whenever he’s played center. The fact of the matter is that if they start him, within a few weeks the manic energy will get a bit less manic, the offensive rebounding will diminish, opposing defenders will get more brave in ignoring him to clog up the offense, and opposing scorers will get more aggressive in finishing layups over him. Simply put, Stewart is the type of player who is far more effective in smaller minutes, because once starter minutes wear down the energy a bit, Stew is suddenly just an undersized, unathletic center who mostly gets to the right place on defense and actively harms your offense. Stew may well end up being the best option this season, but you are not winning anything that even remotely matters with him as the starting 5.
Ron Holland:
Nice night for Holland even if he only played 13 minutes. 6 points on 3-4 shooting with 3 rebounds while bringing solid energy off the bench.
Simone Fontecchio:
2 points, both free throws, in 17 minutes of play. Simone will need to find his shot soon because a couple of the Pistons players will regress a bit, Fontecchio regressing up could help to mitigate some of that pain.
Malik Beasley:
11 points on 4-11 shooting (3-10 from deep) in 26 minutes of play, toss in 3 boards and 3 assists as well. Like Hardaway, Beasley is pretty much here for one reason and even though he isn’t as hot from deep as Hardaway has been, Beasley has continued to do his job. Beasley and Hardaway might be headed towards the short recaps of “He either hit his shots or he didn’t”