The Detroit Pistons are a young, rebuilding team, so there aren’t many games on their schedule that I expect them to win.
They were going up against the NBA-best Warriors last night and were nine point underdogs, so this wasn’t one they were expected to win either, but the thing is, they should have.
The Warriors were on the second game of a road back-to-back and had most of their starting lineup on the bench including MVP frontrunner Stephen Curry and Draymond Green.
This was a game the Pistons should have won, but instead were embarrassed for most of it by the Warriors’ bench, who ran circles around the lifeless Pistons most of the night before Detroit made a furious comeback in the 4th quarter.
It was nice to see them keep playing, but that effort should have been there all game and it just wasn’t. The Warriors were getting wide open shots and layups all night and the Pistons looked completely checked out for most of the game outside of a few guys.
It was a frustrating loss that should have been a win, but that is just one takeaway from this game.
Detroit Pistons: It might be time to sit Killian Hayes
I felt bad for Hayes last night, as he came out and hit his first shot and was playing with a lot of pep and hop on defense.
But he couldn’t stay out of foul trouble and looked again to have aggravated his hand injury.
This has happened several games in a row now, as Hayes can’t seem to get past this sprained thumb, which is a tough injury to overcome when it’s on your dominant hand.
It might be best to sit him for a few games so he can get that thumb back to full strength, though this is an injury that he might just have to learn to play with for the time being.
The Pistons could move Frank Jackson (who has come on the last few games) into the starting five with Cade Cunningham and bump Saben Lee up on the depth chart as the third PG behind Cory Joseph.
It’s a shame because it looked like Killian was primed to have a big game last night, but this thumb injury is concerning and he keeps tweaking it night after night.
Detroit Pistons: The Pistons need more speed and athleticism
One thing was clear last night: The Warriors were the much faster and more athletic team.
Andrew Wiggins looked like prime Dominic Wilkins at times against the less athletic Pistons’ defenders, as did Jonathan Kuminga. Both those guys are super athletes, so this is not shocking.
But the Warriors’ guards also ran circles around the Pistons last night, as Poole and Payton II were getting wherever they wanted on the floor and had ton of wide-open shots.
The Pistons countered with Hamidou Diallo, who was able to make a difference on the boards, but for the most part they looked pretty slow last night.
I will concede that this is mostly because the Warriors are built on speed and shooting, and even though these were their backups, they play disciplined offense that leads to a lot of good shots.
But I don’t think it’s unfair to say that moving forward, the Pistons need some more athletic rim runners and speed.
Losing Isaiah Stewart was a huge blow last night, as he is one of those guys who provides athleticism on the defensive end, so let’s hope his ankle injury is not serious.
I don’t think the Pistons need to make huge changes to their roster, but adding some more athleticism should be a priority now that they have most of their skill guys in place for the future.
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.