Fans of the Detroit Pistons have circled tonight on their calendar, as it is the first regular season game between Cade Cunningham and Jalen Green.
The Pistons will travel to Houston to take on the Rockets in the first game of what is sure to be a budding rivalry between the two teams.
Not only do you have the two top picks going head-to-head, but former Piston Christian Wood will also be eager to show out against his former team to demonstrate exactly what they missed by not re-signing him.
Both teams are still firmly in rebuild mode, evidenced by their records, as the Detroit Pistons have started the season 1-8 and the Rockets 1-9, though it was not unexpected from two teams that are so young.
The scrutiny on Cunningham has taken some heat off of Green, who has also started the season poorly and both will look to have a breakout game at the other’s expense.
Here are some things to look for in the first game between Cade Cunningham and Jalen Green.
Detroit Pistons: Will Cade Cunningham take this game personally?
Both players have spent the last few days trying to play down their rivalry and said things like “it’s just another game.”
Sure.
We know this isn’t true for Green, who took it personally when the Pistons took Cade Cunningham number one instead of him. He has talked non-stop trash since, went on and on about how he’s going to win Rookie of the Year, and even took a few cheap shots at the city of Detroit.
So spare me the “just another game” speech.
Even though Cade Cunningham has also played down the individual rivalry, you know he would like nothing more than to have his first great game of the season against the number two pick.
Both of these teams are at the bottom of the league again, but that won’t stop this game from being entertaining and I would love to see Cade Cunningham bring his “A” game tonight to show exactly why he was the number one pick.
I want Cade to take this rivalry personally and come out with an edge.
Detroit Pistons: Will Cade Cunningham or Jalen Green find their shot?
Both Cade Cunningham and Jalen Green have gotten off to cold shooting starts. As I said earlier, Green has benefitted from the microscope that is on Cunningham, but if he were the number one pick, he’d be getting called a bust right not and not Cade.
Both players are taking around 14 shots per game total and seven attempts from the 3-point line. So far, Green has been slightly better, hitting 35 percent of his field goals overall and 28 percent of his 3-point attempts.
Cunningham has been even worse, hitting just 23 percent of his field goals and 14 percent of his 3-pointers.
Let’s not forget that Cade is coming off an ankle injury that forced him to miss nearly all of training camp, so he is still getting his game legs under him but the signs are there that he will breakout soon.
Green already had a 30 point game, but has shot badly in almost all of the others, so both of these young guards are looking to find some consistency early in the season.
Hopefully being at home will put a little extra pressure on Green, who has a lot of loud talk to back up tonight, and that Cade will benefit from having four days off between games to keep getting back into game shape.
Detroit Pistons: Who is going to defend Cade Cunningham and Jalen Green?
Cade Cunningham and Jalen Green will be matched up against one another at times tonight, but the other guards will also get a shot.
Killian Hayes did a good job on Green in Summer League, as he was able to use his quick feet and strength to keep Green in front of him and make his shots difficult:
This is some defense from Killian Hayes vs. Jalen Green. Good activity and pressure. Think we know what Green can do vs. space, how he handles pressure/activity/reads is interesting to me. Turbo button doesn't always work, have to set these plays up. pic.twitter.com/8sgDBIwMRJ
— Steve Jones Jr. (@stevejones20) August 11, 2021
Hayes is still listed as day-to-day and will be a game-time decision with an injured thumb. If Hayes doesn’t play, Green will probably get a steady dose of Josh Jackson, who will relish the challenge of trying to shut down the rookie.
Either way, the Detroit Pistons will need a team effort on the perimeter to slow down Green.
The Rockets have injuries of their own, as Kevin Porter Jr. is also listed as day-to-day, so Green will probably get first crack at stopping Cade Cunningham, though Jae’Sean Tate will likely get some of those duties as well.
I think the Rockets will use bigger defenders on Cade, especially with their second unit, as guys like Danuel House and Jordan Nwaba would have a much better chance of stopping Cade than guards Eric Gordon or D.J. Augustin.
Cade Cunningham will be taking on most of the top picks from the 2021 NBA Draft in the next six games, but tonight all eyes will be on he and number two pick Jalen Green.