The Detroit Pistons lost a close afternoon matchup vs. Boston yesterday in which the Celtics pulled away late to secure the win.
There are no participation trophies in the NBA, but the Pistons played tough against the NBA’s hottest team and showed why fans have reason to be excited for the future.
Cade Cunningham led the Detroit Pistons with 25 points, strengthening his case for Rookie of the Year, Saddiq Bey and Isaiah Stewart were solid and newcomer Marvin Bagley III was efficient off the bench.
Cade went toe-to-toe with Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, and had he not been in foul trouble all night (more on that later), he might have gotten the best of them.
The Pistons are certainly not there yet, but you can see the vision starting to come together as they played the Celtics down to the wire.
It was a “promising” loss if there is such a thing, but it certainly wasn’t all positive. Here are three takeaways from the matinee.
The Detroit Pistons shooting woes continues
The Pistons have been one of the worst 3-point shooting teams in the NBA all season, and it reared it’s ugly head last night.
Detroit made just 7-of-27 from behind the 3-point line for 25.9 percent while the Celtics made 10-of-26 for 38.5 percent, which was ultimately the difference in the game.
The Detroit Pistons won’t win many games when their best three shooters (Cade, Bey, Jerami Grant) go a combined 2-of-15 from behind the 3-point line.
This dropped the Pistons to just 31.9 percent as a team for the season, good for 29th in the NBA.
Shooting is going to be a focal point of the offseason, as Detroit continues to give away games from behind the arc.