Game Recap/Notes: Game #63. Pistons 108 - Raptors 106. (16-47)
I don’t like Dwane Casey. I love that he owns the Raptors, because Canada is a bad place of bad people. To any Canadians reading this I’d like you to know that it’s almost 30 years now since a Canadian team won the cup.
Cory Joseph:
Did almost nothing of note. 5 points on 5 shot equivalents, had one nice steal/block. Did have a tidy 6 assists without a turnover. Overall a frightening lack of production for 32 minutes.
Cade Cunningham:
Continues to not get foul calls to save his life which sucks. Still finished another excellent game. 22 points on 20 shots (he did not take a single free-throw somehow) along with 12 rebounds and 5 assists. Had a huge block in the game’s closing moments. It may be silly but I think it is worthwhile to occasionally just remind people how awesome it is that this guy plays for the Pistons. He has some wrinkles to iron out over the next few years but he is 100% the real deal.
Saddiq Bey:
Just keeps on rolling. 23 points on 22 shot equivalents isn’t the most efficient but the Pistons needed each point. If he hadn’t bricked so many open threes the game would’ve been more comfortable (just 3-12 from deep and many were good looks)
Bey will do himself a favor when he learns that his drives should either get all the way to the hoop or just aborted to reset the offense. He has a tendency to put his head down and then decide he can’t get by his guy and pull up for tough fadeaway floaters. Bey has decent touch on his floater, but he should either commit to going all the way to the rim or simply admit defeat and put on the breaks and pass the ball away. This isn’t a huge deal, he’s in early stages of learning how to operate as an attacker, but turning a few of those bad falling-floaters into free-throws and resets will help his overall efficiency.
Jerami Grant:
Excellent night for Grant. 26 points on 18 shot equivalents and came to play on the defensive end by putting in a really solid shift against Pascal Siakam. Siakam did get his numbers but his 28 points came after 43 (!!) minutes of play and Grant made him work consistently, Siakam did much of his work against other players.
Grant’s game has severely worn on me. His lack of passing vision and rebounding are oftentimes glaring. But on a night like this, where the Raptors defense eventually caught up to the Pistons and started choking it out, Grant’s isolation game stepped up in a big way. If he could only get the refs to call Cade the way they call him.
Isaiah Stewart:
Wasn’t awesome but he had a nice night against a not-great Raptors front-court. 10 points on 7 shots with 8 boards (4 offensive) and 2 huge blocks. The problem is he got into foul trouble and the Pistons got killed on the glass without him in the game (he didn’t help a ton for what its worth but still).
Kelly Olynyk:
5 points on 5 shots. I still can’t stand watching him. I know he does stuff with his shooting that helps the offense, but he just doens’t make quick decisions in a way that is bothersome. You want the bad defending shooting big man to also be a smart passer and he just isn’t. Regularly making passes a beat late or just missing guys. Olynyk is a guy that even when he’s on I struggle to enjoy.
Isaiah Livers:
Played 5 minutes and missed two shots.
Killian Hayes:
Brutal. Playing the right way, doing all the stuff you want. His defense was stellar, he made some good passes, mostly took shots you like, but he misses all 3 of his shots and at some point the ball has to go in.
Hamidou Diallo:
11 points on 10 equivalents in 16 minutes for a tidy low-minutes night.
Rodney McGruder:
Hit a couple of three-pointers.
General:
No reason to get too excited over this one. The Raptors are a middling team when fully healthy and they were missing two of their three best guys. Despite that the Pistons still almost managed to blow the game.
HOWEVA. Given all the losing this season, the fact that the team can point to some wins recently has meaning and it isn’t like they are going to go on a tear that meaningfully hurts their draft-stock. Seeing Cade and Bey leading the way is especially heartening.