Killian Hayes goes off in Pistons’ failed tank attempt: 3 takeaways
The Detroit Pistons and OKC Thunder headlined Tankapalooza 2022 last night, with both teams trotting out lineups of backups for most of the game.
Just about all of OKC’s best players are out for the season with dubious injuries and the Detroit Pistons decided to rest Cade Cunningham, Saddiq Bey and Isaiah Stewart after they played just a half a quarter.
It was an ugly game full of guys that most casual fans would not recognize, but if you are into player development, this was the night for you!
Killian Hayes stepped up in their absence, scoring a career-high 26 points and adding eight assists, seven rebounds, five steals and two blocks in the best game of his career.
It was great to see Killian aggressive all night, as OKC had no answer for his dribble penetration and he was able to kill them with little floaters and kick outs all night. It took him 25 shots to get his 26 points, but he did knock down 12 of them for 48 percent overall.
Related Story. 2022 NBA Draft showing why Cade Cunningham was the right choice. light
Hayes is still a work in progress, but has been much better of late, and if he can keep improving on finishing these drives, he is going to be a very solid two-way player. He can be the Pistons’ Marcus Smart and last night looked the part.
It was a game neither team wanted to win, and leaves the Detroit Pistons teetering on the brink of worse lottery odds. Here are three takeaways from the Big Tank 2022.
Detroit Pistons’ lottery odds
The Detroit Pistons still have the third-worst record in the NBA, and the win put them two games ahead of both Orlando and Houston, who are tied for the worst record.
They are now just a half game behind the Thunder for the fourth-worst record, and just three games behind the Pacers for the fifth-worst.
Climbing to fourth-worst would not be the end of the world, as it would only change the Pistons’ lottery odds for a top-4 pick by four percent and their chances at number one overall by 1.5 percent.
I don’t mind that the Detroit Pistons are winning, as I think the gain developmentally is more important than a few measly percentage points, but it would have been nice to at least play Cade Cunningham and Saddiq Bey a little longer since they were clearly going to win either way.
It will come down to the last four games against the Pacers, Mavericks, Bucks and 76ers to see who wins the race to the bottom.