the pistons can shoot/the pistons are some fouling mofos/stanley umude is a keeper
For the second game in a row, the Detroit Pistons fell way behind early only to roar back in the 4th quarter behind the bench, but this time they were able to finish the job and get their first preseason win over the Thunder.
There was plenty to like about the game, but let’s not get too excited, as the Pistons were down big until late in the game when few of the regulars were still on the floor.
But you have to like the way the Pistons continued to fight and claw their way back into the game. Monty Williams called it a “culture win” afterwards, and though all preseason disclaimers remain, it was good to see the young roster fight until the end.
There was a lot to dissect in this game, and not all things were as they seemed, but I will offer my huge overreactions to the second preseason game.
It’s time to panic about injuries!
This might not be an overreaction.
The Detroit Pistons missed the second-most amount of games to injury last season and are off to a grim start in that department again. They were missing Bojan Bogdanovic and Monte Morris for the second game, but also sat Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren, which is far more concerning.
Of course, the Pistons are saying Cade’s injury is minor (tendinitis in his quad) but count me as someone who thinks no injury to Cunningham can be considered minor when you look at the context of his career so far.
This team is only going to go as far as Cade takes them, so any injury, no matter how minor, has to be taken seriously.
Aside from the obvious concerns about missed games, Cade and Duren are missing valuable reps on the floor together, so this is not the start the Detroit Pistons were hoping for. Yes, it’s preseason, but this team has to stay healthy to be competitive, so it’s hard to paint this as positive.