Game Recap/Notes: Game #77. Pistons 102 - Sixers 94. (21-56)
Always fun to beat the Sixers, its even more fun now that they have James Harden. Also fun to have the true rookie of the year on the team.
Cory Joseph:
Actually did ok. 8 points and an assist in 23 minutes is much more the lane we hope to see him in the final few games as hopefully the trend of Killian getting more minutes continues. In the lesser role CoJo can still bring some value.
Cade Cunningham:
Yeah this dude is THAT dude. 27 points on 22 equivalents along with 6 assists, 2 boards, and 4 steals. He made tough shots inside the paint all night, and continues to mix in the perfect amount of jumpers to keep defenses honest while never making you think he is settling or falling too in love with the mid-range. He has clearly found an awesome groove to finish the season and regardless of if voters wise up to who really deserves rookie of the year, he is pretty clearly the best guy to have going forward.
Saddiq Bey:
Not a great night as he needed 18 shots to get his 20 points but he made some big plays late and competed defensively. He still struggles at times when he tries to go it alone in the half-court but especially with Jerami Grant out now, someone has to take some shots so it may as well be him.
Marvin Bagley:
Left with a knock after 24 minutes, had 8 points and 8 boards but was predictably squashed by Joel Embiid defensively. Given that it is likely that the Pistons shut down Jerami Grant at least in part to allow Bagley the space to start at PF it would really be a bummer if he misses extended time.
Isaiah Stewart:
27 minutes, no points by missing 4 shots, had 12 rebounds. His matchup with Joel Embiid was fairly predictable in that Stewart, when matched against him, tried hard but ultimate proved ill-equipped to handle him.
Kelly Olynyk:
Saw some extended time tonight and played well. Hit all 5 of his shots on the way to 12 points, had 3 assists and proved to be effective as a sort of connective tissue offensively.
Isaiah Livers:
9 points on 3-4 shooting (all from deep) and continues to impress by simply doing all of the little stuff right. Its a cliche to call a guy “a winning player” but Livers is an example where that’s actually true, dude just makes good plays all over the place.
Frank Jackson:
Only played 13 minutes, minimal impact.
Killian Hayes:
10 points on 8 shots, took some really aggressive drives to the hoop in the half-court, locked up on defense. The Killian Hayes Belief-O-Meter is rising.
Braxton Key:
6 points on 8 equivalents. Did fine in his limited minutes.
General:
Worth noting that there wasn’t really any “one” matchup with Embiid. The Pistons switched a lot of stuff in an almost purposeful effort to allow him to get his but not allow the rest of the offense to open up, which worked. Killian Hayes is really doing things as of late and he will really give the Pistons something to think about this offseason in terms of whether or not they need to add a proper point-guard.