Game Recap/Notes: Game #61. Pistons 111 - Pacers 106. (17-47)
Another win! This one goes firmly in the “fluky” basket due to the fact that the Pistons shot 50% from deep and still had to eek it out. That said, given how most of this season has gone we are not going to complain.
BUT THE DRAFT POSITION
This is an anti-tank space. If the team wins because Saddiq Bey and Cade Cunningham are dropping bombs on opponents I don’t care if it gives the Pistons the #7 pick.
Cory Joseph:
blech. The story stays the same. Joseph isn’t totally terrible, it isn’t like he’s making bad plays all over the floor, he isn’t Steve Blake. But he doesn’t produce at a level that is needed for someone playing starters minutes.
Cade Cunningham:
The free throws, or lack thereof, are absolutely criminal at this point. 20 points on 21 shot equivalents with 9 rebounds and 3 assists, some clutch baskets, a big night. He did seem to get a bit casual on a few possessions and got his shots blocked badly but he still played well. Trying to cut out these nights where his efficiency is lacking would be a good priority for him, but when he gets such a terrible whistle its hard to be too critical of the situation, if he got some calls he would’ve been at the line at least twice more. Calling him for a technical when he rightly complains about it is especially comical.
Saddiq Bey:
May be time for a Saddiq Bey belief-o-meter because something may genuinely be happening here. 25 points on just 17 shot equivalents, his 6-8 from deep led the Pistons onslaught from beyond the arc. Of course he only hit two of his shots inside the arc, but he was excellent tonight. He also seemed to hold up respectably on the defensive end tonight which is nice.
Jerami Grant:
Poor offensive night where he wierdly didn’t get involved much as he had just 10 shot equivalents to reach his 8 points. Did have a few big defensive plays and moved the ball well to 5 assists on the night. Just strange how little he shot it.
Isaiah Stewart:
Did a nice job of asserting himself when he could against a unproven front-court. Only 8 points on 7 shots but 13 rebounds, 7 of them offensive, was nice. He also had a field-day as a screener against the Pacers laggy perimeter defenders. Had a sick behind-the-back dribble that led to an and-1.
Marvin Bagley:
It’s fun but also a little bit sad how much more obvious it is that the lack of athletic bigs has been such a gaping hole. Tonight is a nice example of Bagley at his best, getting the ball deep and forcing himself to the rim where he is effective. Did fall into a couple of short jumpers eventually which isn’t good but still. His 18 points where important and a couple of his 16 shots were heaves late in the shot clock. The defense remains a mess but at least he mostly plays hard. I don’t need him to start, but I do want to see him get more time next to Cade.
Kelly Olynyk:
6 points on 3 shots. Was effective in his 14 minutes.
Isaiah Livers:
Only played 6 minutes but got a couple big plays with a three and drew a putback. Would like to see what he could do with a little bit more playing time.
Killian Hayes:
Same story for Killian. He’s doing everything you want: playing hard and disciplined defense, moving the ball on offense, taking smart shots, but the problem is he just doesn’t hit any shots. He got one long-gun to fall tonight but still went 1-6 from the floor. No matter how great a defender he may be turning into, he has to find some semblance of ability to put the ball in the hoop.
Hamidou Diallo:
Strangely quiet night for Diallo. Just 5 points on 6 equivalents in 12 minutes, not sure why he didn’t get more run tonight.
Rodney McGruder:
6 points on 4 shots, all those shots came from beyond the arc.
General:
This game was lucky because obviously if the Pistons could just shoot 50% from deep they would’ve won a lot more games all season. Still, even if this recent stretch likely doesn’t reflect anything other than just a bad team hitting a hot stretch, it’s still valuable. I am a firm believer that tanking teams that experience nothing but losing all season takes a toll. Not only have the strung a nice stretch together, they were competitive in the losses and they’ve beaten a couple of real teams.