Game Recap/Notes: Game#18. Pistons 93 - Bucks 114. (4-14)
Happy Thanksgiving! Today I’m thankful for the fact that the Pistons don’t play again till tomorrow.
Frustrating game. NBA games can get like this, where one team is clearly better by such a margin that even if the score stays somewhat reasonable you never feel like you’re really in it. The Bucks got out to (if I recall correctly) 14-0 at the start and the Pistons managed to get close a few times in the middle of the game, but there was never really any threat.
Cory Joseph:
Only played 7 minutes. There’s something to be thankful for.
Cade Cunningham:
Wasn’t great but still solid. 9 points on 11 equivalents with 8 boards and 7 assists. A night where the stat-line paints an accurate picture. Cade was mostly getting the right stuff and was a bit more picky about his shot selection than some nights, but it would’ve been nice for him to have managed to get up more shots than he did.
There was one play where he got the ball on top of the arc, and he hit Saben Lee who was just wandering unseen under the basket which was one of those plays that made me go “oh wow” like when I, who is watching on and don’t have to look past human trees don’t see a pass until its there, that’s pretty cool.
Saddiq Bey:
13 points on 11 shots, 7 rebounds. Went 3-8 from deep and hit one shot inside the arc. The rebounding at this point is probably a real thing for Saddiq, he doesn’t go for many offensive rebounds but he’s got a good feel for when he can get them and makes good use of his wide body for it.
Jerami Grant:
13 points on 13 shots. Shot selection wasn’t great, struggled to find impact anywhere in the game, and while I know that no team really has an answer for Giannis, the Pistons can’t even make a guess and that’s disappointing because in theory Grant has the physical tools to at least do something. Overall my biggest disappointment with Grant is the degree to which his defense has dropped in Detroit. He still makes some nice plays but the consistency simply isn’t there, this was more understandable last season but he’s taking less shots and having to do less work for those shots this season.
Luka Garza:
Continues to try and walk the line of “Can I approach a level of competency on defense that I am just really bad and not fatally bad?” Because I do think he does nice stuff on offense, perhaps it stands out more given the overall offensive incompetence in Detroit but he is a breath of fresh air on that end. The defense though…
Trey Lyles:
No he doesn’t get the honors. He was the primary force in the Pistons getting back into the game, I think at one point he had 14 points on 12 minutes played and I was thinking “I’ve talked so much shit about this guy and now I’m going to have to give him the honors” but then he finished with 19 points in 23 minutes and needed 16 equivalents to get there, which is still good, but not “give him the honors” good. In particular, as I said at the top, it seemed like a big reason for the Pistons getting back in the game was basically that the Bucks took the foot off the gas and Lyles happened to be the main beneficiary.
Frank Jackson:
Not a great night with 6 points on 10 shots, missing all 5 of his threes. Also got tripped up by Greyson Allen and altho he kept playing, he eventually left the bench, hopefully, he’s alright because he was one of the few bright spots offensively as of late.
Saben Lee:
Got 29 minutes and was really the main man in the Pistons getting back into the game. Ended up with just ok numbers as his long-ball failed him as the game went on. Still finished with 12 points on 16 equivalents and 5 assists. That isn’t a great night but he really brought some life to the Pistons, even if the Bucks were letting up at that point, and with Killian hopefully coming back healthy on Friday he should be taking Joseph’s minutes, because he may be better or he may be worse but its time to find out for sure.
Hamidou Diallo:
6 points on 6 shots, not quite the same night as he’s had lately but still looked just fine overall.
Josh Jackson:
9 points on 8 equivalents, I like him being more aggressive when playing with the bench unit.
General:
Said it at the top, but the Pistons really never stood a chance in this game. Giannis only scored 33 points but he got anywhere he wanted and did whatever he wanted. Bobby Portis was unstoppable, just a frustrating night. The Bucks are really good but there was a Bucks possession where Portis had the ball in the midrange on the left side with George Hill standing beyond the line right around the break. George’s defender (I don’t remember who) came to double-team and Portis saw it. Like he fully recognized that he simply had to flip a pass 10 feet to get a wide open 3 for Hill, he did a full head-turn to look at hill. But instead he turned the other way into a fadeaway that he buried, after which he and Hill looked at each other and shared a hearty chuckle together as they got back on defense. Because Bobby Portis decided that the Pistons wern’t good enough to justify making the easy play, he decided “fuck it I want to try this” and it worked.
The Pistons got stunted on by Bobby Portis.
Its one thing to get stunted on by Giannis, but Bobby Portis? That really sucks. This was not fun.