When we talk about last night’s Detroit Pistons vs. Los Angeles game in the future, it will always be remembered as the game Isaiah Stewart snapped and tried to murder LeBron James.
There were plenty of takeaways from the bloody scuffle that saw both LeBron and Beef Stew get ejected and likely suspended.
Of course, that is all anyone is talking about today and the images of a bloodied Stewart going after LeBron are everywhere.
Stewart vs. LeBron is getting all of the headlines and overshadowing several things from last night’s game that were both good and bad for the Pistons.
The Detroit Pistons have blown two games in a row
The real gut punch last night came when the Pistons blew a 17-point lead in the 4th quarter and lost another game they should have won.
They were coming off an embarrassing loss to the Warriors’ bench in which they were out-worked for 3/4 of the game.
After kicking the Lakers’ butts for most of the game, the Pistons absolutely fell apart in the 4th quarter, getting outscored by 20 points and completely going away from the beautiful ball movement that had gotten them wide-open shots all night.
Instead they resorted to Jerami Grant isolations, which were so predictable you could practically see the Anthony Davis blocks before they happened.
It was a disappointing way to end such a hard fought game and I feel like these two losses really changed the outlook of the Pistons’ season and not in a good way.
Can you imagine if the Pistons had closed these games, and were now 6-10 having won two in a row against the Warriors and Lakers? Suddenly the play-in doesn’t seem like such a pipe dream.
Young teams are going to blow games, but one thing that will be lost in all of the Stewart ruckus is that the Pistons should be on a 3-game winning streak and really blew a chance to put a jolt in their season.
Their execution down the stretch was bad, and some of coach Casey’s choices late were odd, specifically having Frank Jackson on the bench for the final play when the Pistons needed a 3-pointer to tie.
I thought Casey did a good job for most of the game and that his new rotations were part of the reason the Pistons had the lead in the first place, but that 4th quarter was not his finest hour.
Hamidou Diallo played his best overall game for the Pistons
Someone must have lit a fire under Hamidou Diallo last night because he came to Little Caesar’s Arena ready to play.
His energy, defense and rebounding really gave the Pistons a spark. Diallo finished the night with 17 points, six rebounds, two steals and a block while flying around on defense, running the floor and doing all of the things we expected him to do after the Pistons re-signed him in the offseason.
Diallo provides a boost of athleticism that the Pistons sorely lack, and he was running circles around the Lakers most of the night. I thought this sequence was the best of the season and Diallo was at the heart of it:
https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/1462573238811197443
Of course, Diallo did have a turnover on the final play of the game, throwing a pass to no one when it appeared he thought he was going to be immediately fouled.
The ball should have never been in his hands (he shouldn’t have been in the game) but it was disappointing that the Pistons didn’t even get a shot off on the final play. Just give the ball to Cade Cunningham and let him work, this isn’t that hard.
Diallo played his way into the rotation, hopefully permanently, but no one is going to be talking about that today.
Cade Cunningham’s triple double and terrible shooting
On any other night, Cade Cunningham logging a triple double would have caused Pistons Twitter to explode with happiness, but it barely got any notice.
Part of this is because of the Beef Stew Incident (great band name) but the other part is that Cade really struggled shooting the ball, going 1-of-9 from 3-point range and just 6-of-21 overall.
Shooting struggles aside, I thought Cunningham played one of his better games, as he controlled the tempo all night, crashed the boards, pushed in transition and kept getting his teammates wide-open shots.
Of course the Pistons’ inability to even shoot league average from 3-point range is still a huge problem and Cade could have had about ten more assists last night if his teammates could just knock down shots.
I think Cade would be the first to say that this wasn’t his best night even though he ended with 13 points, 10 assists, 12 rebounds and two steals.
Overall, it was a gut-wrenching loss to a hated rival, one that overshadowed the Pistons missing a chance to turn their season around, as well as Hami and Cade’s big nights.