Detroit Pistons: 4 positives from collapse vs. Brooklyn Nets

The Detroit Pistons lost their 12th in a row in typical fashion, blowing the game during a complete collapse in the 4th quarter.

The Pistons seem to have at least one quarter per game where they inexplicably forget how to play basketball. Last night it was the 4th, where they scored just 13 points and had nearly as many turnovers.

For three quarters the shorthanded Pistons, who are without Jerami Grant for the foreseeable future, went toe-to-toe with Kevin Durant and the Eastern Conference-leading Nets, but then fell apart in the 4th like a toy that had run out of battery life.

The negatives were easy enough to find. Saddiq Bey struggled mightily again, throwing up a few shots that nearly broke the backboard on his way to four points on 2-of-9 shooting, including missing all of his five 3-point shots.

Isaiah Stewart played hard all game but his limitations were obvious. He has hands like beaver tails, can’t finish in the paint and his shot is almost as ugly as Bey’s right now. It’s like the two of them are in a contest to see who can shoot the ugliest jumper every game and they are both winning.

Trey Lyles was awful. Josh Jackson does not have an NBA skill, the Pistons had 19 turnovers, including like six in a row in the 4th quarter and missed a ton of free throws. Killian Hayes also tweaked his thumb again and missed most of the second half, which certainly didn’t help the Pistons’ cause.

But other than all of that, things were great!

Here are four positives from last night’s loss to the Nets.

Detroit Pistons vs. Nets: Cade Cunningham is a superstar in the making

Cade Cunningham came out hot last night, scoring 10 in the first quarter on his way to 26 points, eight rebounds and six assists.

He got his points on only 18 shots and took it right at Kevin Durant at times, showing no fear. He stepped up in the absence of Grant and despite what Dave Bing thinks (seriously, can the Pistons even get love from their own guys?), Cade looks like a player to build around.

He did have seven turnovers and some of them were atrocious. He threw the ball away twice in the 4th quarter on plays that can only be called “brain farts” as he just lost focus and threw it to guys who weren’t there.

This season is all about Cade Cunningham and the young guys now and he looks more comfortable shooting and running the offense every game.

He still needs to get stronger around the rim and take better care of the ball, but Cade was the second-best player on the floor last night, which is all you can ask from a rookie point guard.

On a side note: Cade Cunningham gets no calls. He was hacked several times last night and didn’t get a whistle, which is something that will come once he’s been around longer. He shot five free throws to Kevin Durant’s 15, which was a big factor in the game. KD got all of the cheap whistles and Cade got none, which is how it works for rookies on bad teams.