The Pistons don’t rely heavily on three-point shots, but when they are making them, they are almost impossible to beat.
We saw it last night with the Knicks, as Cade Cunningham poured in five from long range and the Pistons hit 43 percent overall on their way to their third straight evisceration of New York.
There are few players in the NBA that can even slow Cade Cunningham when it comes to getting into the lane and finding his spots, and when he’s knocking down 3’s, well, we get a game like we saw last night when he dropped 42 on the Knicks and made it look easy.
The Pistons are now 10-4 when Cade Cunningham makes at least three 3-pointers, and they’ve won all three games in which he’s made at least five.
Even though Cade and the Pistons aren’t a team that shoots many 3’s, making up for it with paint domination and offensive boards, Cunningham’s long-range shooting may end up being the difference in the playoffs.
Cade Cunningham needs to get hot from long range
The Pistons don’t need to change their game plan in the playoffs, nor should they, as they are winning playing Detroit basketball behind an elite defense.
But we also know that fast breaks are harder to come by in the playoffs, and the Pistons are going to have to score in the half court consistently to make a deep run, and that is so much easier when Cade Cunningham is knocking down 3’s.
Teams tend to back off Cade in an effort to keep him out of the lane and almost always go under high screens, leaving that 3-point shot for him all night. When he is splashing them, it’s over for opposing defenses, as they can’t just cram the lane and dare someone else to beat them.
This opens up more opportunity for Ausar Thompson in the middle of the floor, and he was able to take advantage of it last night, racking up four assists, including one beauty off a crossover. Come out to double team Cade to stop him from getting those shots, and he'll burn you for lobs to Jalen Duren for dunks all night. Cade Cunninhgam making threes is a cheat code.
The game plan against the Pistons is going to be “stop Cade by plugging the lane” until the Pistons prove it won’t work. Last year the Pistons nearly beat the Knicks with Cade shooting bricks from long range, so if he can start knocking them down confidently as he did last night, the Pistons will be a tough out in the playoffs.