3 takeaways from the Detroit Pistons’ embarrassing loss to Warriors

The pairing of Cade Cunningham and Cory Joseph

We saw quite a lot of Cade Cunningham and Cory Joseph together last night after Killian Hayes left with foul trouble and a sore thumb.

Joseph ended up playing 30 minutes, which is not ideal, but did provide a calming presence early in the game when the Pistons were getting blown off the floor.

This pairing is a mixed bag, as Joseph likes to have the ball in his hands and doesn’t offer much off-the-ball, which means Cunningham plays that role when he’s in the game.

I don’t like anything that takes the ball out of Cunningham’s hands, but Joseph was able to set Cade up for a couple of 3-pointers last night as well, so it can work at times.

Cory Joseph has drawn the hatred of fans who want to blame him for taking the ball out of Cade’s hands and taking minutes from G-League legend Saben Lee.

I get those sentiments, but I do think Joseph gives more than he takes on most nights, so have no problem when he is in his normal role of 15-20 minutes off the bench.

Ideally Cade will get more minutes with Frank Jackson, as their skills are more compatible and Cunningham can get Frank open looks as he did several times last night.

If Hayes has to miss time or can’t stay on the floor, the CoJo/Cade pairing is not ideal and Dwane Casey may need to find a way to limit their time on the floor together to maximize what they do best.