3 takeaways from another tough Pistons’ loss to Denver

For the third game in a row, the Detroit Pistons fought back from double-digit deficits to make it a game but couldn’t close it out.

They got another huge night from Cade Cunningham (more on that later) who has backed up his words since declaring himself the best rookie in the NBA.

The Pistons got Frank Jackson back, which was nice, but he is still trying to re-calibrate his shot after a long absence with injuries and COVID.

The Nuggets got a normal huge night out of Nikola Jokic, who really does about everything for them offensively. They were also the beneficiaries of a huge foul discrepancy that gave them a 31-14 advantage in free-throw attempts.

There was a lot to like in this game for Cade Cunningham and his Detroit Pistons, but the young squad has to learn how to avoid dumb fouls, which was a big problem in this one.

Here are three takeaways from the five-point loss to the Nuggets.

Cade Cunningham and Nikola Jokic: Skill beats everything

The biggest knock against both Cade Cunningham and Nickola Jokic was that they weren’t athletic enough.

It’s true that neither possess blazing speed and neither of them are going to jump out of the gym, but last night showed that a high level of skill and basketball I.Q. is more important.

Both Cunningham and Jokic were doing everything for their teams, hitting shots from all over, setting up teammates and doing it at a deliberate pace.

Instead of elite athleticism, the two use their size to get to their spots, where they can either drain shots or draw in defenders to create open shots or cutting lanes for their teammates.

The two went back and forth all game, particularly in the 1st quarter, where they even defended each other occasionally.

For those who like watching basketball skill on display, that 1st quarter was a joy to behold and I couldn’t help but wonder if we were watching the MVP and the future MVP of the league.