Cade Cunningham's injury and other key takeaways from Pistons loss to Hornets

Argh. That’s all I really have to say about the Detroit Pistons’ most recent heartbreaking loss to the Charlotte Hornets, their second of the season with just three points combined differential between the two games. 

Detroit allowed the Hornets to shoot 47 percent as a team and 45 percent from 3-point range and you won’t win many games that way, even if you dominate every other category, which the Pistons pretty much did. 

It’s hard to know what to make of this team right now, and the takeaways from last night’s game reflect that. 

The Pistons are being propped up by a terrible Eastern Conference 

The East/West divide has gotten ridiculous this season, as one conference is loaded and the other is lacking.  

The West currently has 11 teams above .500. The East has four. The West holds a 41-22 against the East and there is only one team in the entire Western Conference that has a losing record against the East, the 14th-seed Pelicans. 

Only three teams in the East have winning records against the West, the Cavs, Nets and Bucks, and the latter two have losing records overall. 

The 12th-seed Spurs would be the 5th seed in the East, and you know teams like Memphis and Minnesota are desperately hoping the NBA adds teams in Las Vegas and Seattle so they can move to the AAA conference. 

Not to take away from the Pistons’ improvement, because they have improved, but six of their seven wins have come against the lousy East, so it’s difficult to get too excited. 

On the flip side, the East is so bad that the very mediocre Pistons could end up making the playoffs by default. 

The Pistons need Ausar Thompson 

Detroit was once again torched from the 3-point line, allowing the Hornets to make 20 of them as a team while shooting 45 percent. 

Just about everyone is to blame, as the Pistons don’t do well defending the pick-and-roll from either a guard or big perspective. They don’t close out aggressively (probably because they seem to foul every time they do) and just don’t have a point-of-attack defender who can get into the opponent’s chest on the perimeter. 

The return of Ausar Thompson will certainly help, as his defense will patch some holes, but it’s an issue that has been ongoing for years. The Pistons are just 24th in 3-point defense this season, allowing opponents to shoot 37.5 percent, which is even worse than last season. 

Jalen Duren is a non-factor 

Duren was nearly invisible last night, which is a shame considering the Hornets didn’t use an actual center with both of theirs out with injury.

I’ve had readers accuse me of “picking on” Duren recently by pointing out he is regressing on defense, but it is what it is.  

Duren can’t shoot, he’s not a good defender at the rim or in space, so if he can’t dominate Grant freaking Williams, what exactly does he do? There are lots of centers in the NBA who can grab rebounds. 

Duren has been soundly outplayed by backup Isaiah Stewart and does seem to have lost some confidence. I hope he gets it back, as I want him to succeed, but as of right now, there is no way the Pistons can offer him a contract extension next summer and may have to consider upgrading the position. 

Cade Cunningham injury update 

Cunningham hit the ground hard and apparently injured his hip, which forced him out of the game. 

He’s been dealing with back spasms for the last two weeks, so anything in that region is concerning. 

For what it is worth, Pistons’ beat writer Omari Sankofa II said he saw Cade in the locker room and it didn’t look serious, but he is currently listed as day-to-day on the injury report. 

Losing Cunningham for any amount of time would be devastating, so we have to hope it’s just a bruise and we see Cade back in there soon. He didn’t have a great game last night, but I shudder to think what this offense will look like without him.