Game Recap/Notes: Game #7. Pistons 106 - Suns 120. (2-7)
Disappointing. On one hand, losing to the Suns shouldn’t be a disappointment, but when they are missing two of their big 3 and are far less rested than the Pistons its pretty disappointing, especially considering that the Pistons looked far more like the team that was on a back to back.
Cade Cunningham:
The story is starting to become a pattern for Cade. 26 points on 12-24 shooting from the field (2-3 at the line) with 6 assists against 6 turnovers. The irony though is that in this game the Suns were far less willing to completely remove themselves from other Pistons players so Cade got a number of great looks at the hoop which was exciting, he failed on his jumpers instead, going 0-6 from deep in particular.
At the end of the day though, it was another game where he took a high number of shots for his high number of points and turned the ball over too much, and once again the Suns were not nearly as aggressive in sending extra defenders at him (for reasons that remain not totally clear but hey they won) as other teams have been so its hard to pin it as much on his teammates.
Killian Hayes:
24 minutes and another fairly effective game for Killian. 13 points on 4-8 shooting from the field, including 1-3 from deep and 4-4 at the line, to go along with 5 assists without a turnover. For good measure he put in several nice defensive possessions against Kevin Durant which was nice to see.
This is two games in a row now where Killian actually played the way he needs to play to actually justify his spot in the starting lineup/generally playing so many minutes. Even as is its a tough sell on offense with the spacing but if needs to at least be at this level of production.
Ausar Thompson:
Some good things are happening here for sure. After the Pelicans game featured a stretch where Ausar was so bad it almost felt like bullying on the part of New Orleans, he bounced back with a very nice game. 14 points on 6-14 from the field still isn’t good but it’s improved for our young rookie, but he also went 2-3 from deep! Not that one game changes how awful his shooting has been but I’m sure it just felt nice to see the ball go in. Beyond the shooting, he continues to be an absolute stat-stuffer with 9 boards (5 offensive!) 4 assists, 4 steals, and 4 blocks. Very positive game from Ausar and a great way to bounce back.
Isaiah Stewart:
In 34 minutes just 9 points on 3-6 shooting with 2 rebounds on the night and 3 turnovers. He defended Kevin Durant for stretches of the night and at least made him work but Durant was mostly unbothered by him. Stewart simply had minimal impact tonight and the degree to which he is clearly uncomfortable making offensive plays when he’s anything but wide-open is not a good thing.
Jalen Duren:
Overreacting? Me? Us?? yeah maybe. This wasn’t a bad game for Duren, 12 points on 6-10 shooting with 11 boards, 3 assists, and a pair of steals is still a decent outing even with Duren with another 5 turnovers. This is obviously not the night he was having the first few games but that stat line is fine if not ideal. The bigger problem is that the defensive tenacity wasn’t there for the second straight game. He outright missed some rotations, misplaced himself several times, and generally looked far more like the young player that he is. I’m holding onto hope that maybe his ankle is still aggravated and that’s the reason he doesn’t look the same, but its also entirely possible he just played over his head for a couple of games defensively against teams that don’t do offense very well. Either way, he joins Cade in needing to cut down on the turnovers in a big way.
Marcus Sasser:
Got on the floor a ton with Ivey out for 30 minutes. For the earlier parts of the game, it seemed like he would never miss but eventually, he did. Finished with 22 points on 9-16 shooting from the field and 4-6 from deep. As great as this is, and Sasser clearly can play, it is VERY important to remember that Sasser is currently shooting nearly 60% from deep, even if he is indeed an ELITE shooter he will lose nearly 20 percentage points off of that, but for now its nice to have a hot hand.
Marvin Bagley:
11 points on 3-5 shooting and 5-5 at the line with 2 rebounds. Even though he only had 1 assist it was a genuinely nice pass which he has managed a few times this year which is surprising. A decent night brought down by the 5 fouls he committed in such a small amount of time.
Joe Harris:
Played 13 minutes and did nothing.
General:
Just a strange game. Type of game where the team just didn’t have it at all. They blew easy plays on both ends of the floor, allowed the Suns to pull away while Durant was on the bench, and generally didn’t play with the type of energy you need.