No matter what happens in their first-round playoff series with the Knicks, the Detroit Pistons’ season has been a roaring success.
But even with all the good vibes around the team, none of the experts are giving the Pistons a shot to win the series, citing the Knicks’ superior overall talent, home court advantage and playoff experience as the main reasons.
The Pistons have three starters who will be making their playoff debuts in Cade Cunningham, Jalen Duren and Ausar Thompson, and they will clearly need all three to have a good series to stand a chance against a very talented Knicks team.
The Pistons also have several veterans in Tobias Harris, Tim Hardaway Jr., Malik Beasley and Dennis Schroder, who have the playoff experience to balance the youth.
The Pistons are feeling good after beating the Knicks three times already this season but will need Cade Cunningham to keep it up if they want to pull off the big upset in the first round.
Cade Cunningham has dominated the Knicks
The Knicks present some tough matchups for the Pistons, particularly Jalen Brunson, who has had big games against them this season, and Karl-Anthony Towns, one of the best stretch fives in the league, a type of player the Pistons have struggled with all year.
The Pistons counter with Cade Cunningham, who has averaged over 30 points and eight assists this season against the Knicks with outstanding shooting splits of 56 percent from the field and 52 percent from long range.
Two of the Pistons’ wins against the Knicks came at Madison Square Garden behind monster games from Cade, and he’ll need to keep it up for the Pistons to escape the first round, as they don’t have a consistent secondary option.
Cunningham has passed all the tests so far against the Knicks, as he looks unstoppable, has gotten wherever he wants on the floor and gotten high-quality looks for himself and his teammates.
Knicks fans are banking on OG Anunoby being a deterrent, but he hasn’t been so far, as Cade has averaged over 30 a game against him this season.
Cunningham has been particularly effective in clutch time, hitting big shot after big shot with the Knicks having no answer late in games.
And he passes the eye test, as Cade has a little extra zip in his step against the Knicks and looks completely confident doing his thing.
We know New York is going to throw everything at him to try and make someone else on the Pistons beat them, so Cade’s trend of dominating the Knicks is going to have to continue.
This series will have a huge effect on how Trajan Langdon approaches the offseason. We’ve been talking all year about the narrative slowly changing around this roster, which now looks like one that needs to be tweaked rather than have dramatic changes or additions.
A playoff win or two would solidify that notion and for that to happen, Cade Cunningham needs to be the best player in the series.