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.
Detroit Pistons: Hamidou Diallo in the starting lineup
Hamidou Diallo got the start in place of the injured Jerami Grant, which surprised me, as I figured coach Casey would go with Trey Lyles.
It was a pleasant surprise, as the Pistons came out with a ton of energy and were flying around on defense most of the time Hamidou was out there.
He still makes some mistakes, but most of them are “hustle mistakes” where he tries to do too much after making a nice play.
His athleticism was much-needed and gave the Pistons a boost at times when he was able to grab rebounds or run the floor for easy transition buckets, something Detroit does not get enough of most nights.
Diallo didn’t see any action in the 4th quarter, which I thought was a mistake considering how badly they were struggling, but I have to give coach Casey credit for mixing up his rotations effectively most of the night.
Diallo finished with 11 points and three rebounds in 20 minutes but did take some wild shots that probably got him benched.
Diallo is still a work in progress, but he’s been taking steps over the last several games and looks like an NBA rotation player.
Detroit Pistons: Frank Jackson is finding his groove
Frank Jackson is finally playing like the guy I thought he was when I wrote that he could be like Jason Terry for the Pistons, a guy who provides instant offense off the bench and can occasionally win you a game.
The winning part hasn’t happened so far but there are signs that Jackson is finally finding his groove after an ice-cold start to the season.
He scored 25 points last night on 6-of-13 from long range and is now 13-of-25 from 3-point range over the last three games, bringing his overall average up to 33 percent.
The Pistons’ bench has been a disaster this season, so contributions from Jackson are a welcome change and he gives the Pistons the floor spacer that they lack in the second unit.
If he can continue to hit shots like this, Jackson will end up being one of the best value contracts in the NBA, as most guys who shoot 40 percent from deep are making big bucks.
Jackson is finally providing that spark off the bench we’ve been waiting for.
Detroit Pistons: Saben Lee earns more minutes
With Cory Joseph mercifully out last night, coach Casey had no choice but to turn to Saben Lee, who ended up being the reason the Pistons got back into the game.
Lee provided an instant boost of energy to the Pistons on both ends, playing pesky on the ball defense and absolutely torching Patty Mills off the bounce on the other end.
Lee might be the smallest guy on the floor, but someone forgot to tell him, as he is fearless going to the rim and knows how to finish once he gets there.
Of course, he makes some bad choices as well, turning it over three times last night on plays where he jumped before he knew what he wanted to do with the ball.
But he finished with 17 points, six rebounds and six assists overall, played with pace and hopefully ended the CoJo era in Detroit by doing more in one game than Joseph has all season.
Coach Casey went small in the 2nd quarter and the Pistons came roaring back behind Lee’s hustle and speed, which is something they’ve lacked all season.
Lee still has a lot of work to do, but at least he plays fast and with energy, which is something we can’t say about the slew-footed Joseph.
The Detroit Pistons still lost the game, so all of these positives are meaningless, but it was nice to see the young team respond without Grant and play competitively against a very good team with an all-time great in Durant.