How the Detroit Pistons can stay alive without Cade Cunningham

The Detroit Pistons struggled offensively in their opening night loss to the Chicago Bulls and could have used Cade Cunningham.

Detroit hopes to get the number one pick back to action soon, but there is still no timeline for his return and they are going to be cautious, which is smart.

The Pistons defended and rebounded well enough to beat the Bulls on opening night, but just couldn’t buy a bucket, especially from long range, where they shot just 21 percent overall.

There were some positives from the game, especially defensively, but the Pistons are going to have to find a way to score without Cunningham if he does have to miss some more games.

While the Pistons don’t have title aspirations, they want to compete for a play-in spot this season and can’t fall into too big a hole with Cade out.

Here is how they can stay afloat until he returns.

The Detroit Pistons need better shot selection

The Bulls played tough defense against the Pistons, so it wasn’t surprising that they struggled offensively in the first game of the season.

But I thought they rushed their shots at times and took some bad “hero ball” shots that they need to avoid.

Saddiq Bey showed some things we wanted to see, but also took a few tough, contested 3-point shots that he should have passed up.

Same with Jerami Grant, who also forced things a few times and took some wild shots in the paint that should have been passes.

Without one of their primary playmakers, the Detroit Pistons are going to have to be patient and trust that ball movement will eventually lead to better shots. The spacing was off without Cade Cunningham, so the Pistons are going to need to create it by keeping the ball moving.