The Detroit Pistons failed to break their playoff drought in game one against the New York Knicks, but you can bet Cade Cunningham and co. will be ready to go at it again in game two tonight.
Cunningham had a tough night, as the Knicks predictably double and triple teamed him a lot early on and ran an extra defender at him every time he used a screen.
I thought Cunningham was patient and mostly effective, as he didn’t force anything and instead set his teammates up for wide-open shots and they hit them, with Cade racking up 12 assists.
The Knicks are clearly comfortable letting any other Pistons player beat them as long as Cunningham doesn't have a big game.
Cunningham did start to crack the Knicks and did get to his spots in the second half and was a couple of missed bunnies away from having a much-different night.
Even though the Knicks were using multiple guys on him, there was one defender who stood out and gave Cunningham problems.
OG Anunoby is the Knicks’ best defender, and the Pistons have to find ways to keep him off Cade Cunningham in game two.
Cade Cunningham vs. OG Anunoby
Cade usually has a size advantage over defenders, but that’s not the case with Anunoby, who is the same height and has a considerable weight advantage. He was able to knock Cade off his spots a few times and is the only Knicks’ defender who can handle Cade one-on-one.
The Knicks have defenders the Pistons can attack but they have to find ways to get the matchups they want, which means getting Anunoby off Cade.
They can do this by playing Cade more off the ball and setting him up with screens to free him. Cunningham can definitely score on Anunoby, but needs to keep him moving, use his quickness and try to get around him rather than through him.
When the Pistons tried to run PnR with Cade the Knicks were just jumping the screen with a second defender, so Detroit needs to get Cade more looks off the ball where it will be more difficult for the Knicks to double.
Detroit can use Dennis Schroder at the point more, run Cade off of screens and hopefully make it more difficult for Anunoby and the Knicks to get set.
The Pistons didn’t get many chances in transition in game one, but they have to continue to run every chance they get with Cade attacking the rim.
The Knicks only have one elite defender, Anunoby, so JB Bickerstaff’s game plan has to find ways to keep him away from Cade, as the Pistons need more points from him in game two to have a chance.