Cade Cunningham has been used to playing big minutes and carrying a big load to start the season, but he got some rest on Monday night as the Pistons blew out the Thunder. Cade contributed to the massive win with 33 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists and 5 steals in just 27 minutes. He may have also realized that driving the Pistons to blowout wins might be his best route to playing less minutes in the immediate future.
Blowouts are good for Cade’s minutes load
The Pistons won in Charlotte very handily; the game ended up being a 33-point blowout that wasn’t close at all during the fourth quarter. In those situations, the Pistons should naturally be letting developing players get more minutes rather than pushing Cade for no reason.
Fortunately, that ended up being the case as Cade had his second-straight game under 30 minutes. He played 28 in the previous contest against the Nets, which was also a blowout win (Detroit led that one by 30 in the fourth quarter). While he’s been resting the last two games, his teammates have been building up their own confidence with more offensive freedom.
There could be great short term benefits of blowout wins, especially in the improved play of bench contributors. But the biggest payoff will likely be in the long run when Cade is fresher for the biggest games and the playoffs. Resting him more now doesn’t guarantee good health, but it does diminish the chances of him picking up an injury.
The Pistons are becoming more sustainable
In previous seasons, Detroit’s offense has been almost solely reliant on Cade as a creator. Last season, Jalen Duren emerged as a great second scoring option (although he didn’t create for others much), but he’s injured right now.
Thankfully, the Pistons are steadily moving towards a system that relies on Cade less. Other creators are emerging from unlikely places, like the bench unit or defensive aces. The two most intriguing developments this season have been Ausar Thompson and Duncan Robinson, both of whom weren’t direct creators last season.
Thompson has taken on more ball-handling duties this season and has shown his skills as a playmaker in particular. He’s not always aggressive hunting his own shot, but does a great job setting his teammates up already.
Robinson is a wholly different story. The veteran sharpshooter has dialed up his shooting aggression even more to become a worrying threat for any defense. He’s been willing to take (and make) many lightly contested threes too, which adds to his gravity. And Robinson is also able to make some plays for others if defenses sell out too hard to stop him, although that’s not necessarily his initial instinct.
Add us as a preferred source on Google