3 takeaways from Detroit Pistons’ frustrating loss to the Denver Nuggets

The Detroit Pistons are keeping it close, but where is Cade Cunningham late?

The Pistons have mostly been an all or nothing team in 2022, as they’ve either won the game or gotten blown out with little in between.

The last two games against the Utah Jazz and Denver Nuggets were different, as Detroit got down by double digits but kept fighting to get back into the game and not let it get away from them.

They ultimately still lost, but it’s a good sign from a young team learning how to battle for 48 minutes and stay in the game mentally, which they hadn’t been in their previous blowout losses.

A big part of this has been the veteran bench, as guys like Trey Lyles and Rodney McGruder have provided consistent scoring of late.

The 1st unit has played with better pace and Cade Cunningham has been more consistent, which has kept them from getting down big early.

After getting down 90-76 at the end of the 3rd, the Pistons kept fighting and eventually tied the game with 1:45 left.

We know what happened then, and my biggest criticism of their play was that Cade Cunningham didn’t touch the ball at all in the final three possessions, which is indefensible considering he’s the Pistons best isolation player.

Detroit has to find a way to get their best player the ball in the clutch, as that is two games in a row where he’s been a non-factor late in close games.