Pistons are walking a dangerous line with Cade Cunningham

Cade Cunningham looked gassed for the first time in the series against Cleveland last night in game three, but the problem was the Pistons fell apart every time he was off the floor. It will be a difficult line for JB Bickerstaff to navigate as he tries to survive the minutes when he gets his best player some much-needed rest.

Cunningham made three back breaking turnovers last night in the waning minutes, and I am not making excuses for the guy, as they were just bad plays as he admitted after the game, but it did look like mental and physical fatigue played a part. 

It’s hard to blame him, as Cunningham was doing everything on the offensive end and usually had at least two guys draped on him. To their credit, the Cavaliers did a much better job of playing Cunningham physically and making him work hard for everything. 

It didn’t help that every time Cade left the game, the Pistons fell apart. 

The Pistons have to do better in the non-Cade minutes 

If you want to see a number that explains why the Pistons lost last night, it’s the –53 net rating the Pistons had when Cunningham was off the floor. That’ NEGATIVE 53! How is that even possible? The guy was only on the bench for nine minutes, but the Pistons promptly fell apart whenever he wasn’t in the game. 

One play in particular stands out, as I thought it was the turning point in the game. The Pistons were trying to get Cunningham out and he had already gone to the bench, but the refs didn’t allow the substitution, Cunningham had to get back up, run into the game and the Pistons got caught out of position for a layup. 

They finally got Cuningham (who did look gassed) out of the game for a breather, and the Cavs went on a 7-0 run that shifted all the momentum back to Cleveland, which carried them to the win. 

JB Bickerstaff has to keep Harris on the floor when Cade isn’t 

Coach Bickerstaff didn’t have a great night, as he stubbornly stuck with Jenkins with Ausar Thompson on the bench for some reason and went back to Jalen Duren, who was getting killed on the boards, after BBall Paul got them back into the game. 

He also used some wonky lineups when Cade was out, with both him and Tobias Harris on the bench at the same time, which can’t happen. One of those two has to be on the floor at all times, as they are the only ones who can reliably create their own shots. 

Daniss Jenkins with the starters is another lineup that was very good in the regular season, so coach Bickerstaff can’t be fooling around with unproven groups when Cade Cunningham is on the bench. 

Cunningham needs to be able to take a breather without the team falling apart, and it starts by having the most reliable players out there when he isn’t. 

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow