We broke down the Detroit Pistons’ schedule just before the season started, noting how difficult the year was going to begin for Detroit. Cade and company started the season with seven to eight championship contenders, and they struggled, as expected. We would end up grading them out with a C+ for the first quarter. This second quarter, however, has been nothing short of impressive.
Detroit finished this second quarter with a record of 12-7, and an even more impressive 7-2 record since the new year began. We’ve had some All-Star play, perfect complementary basketball, and an unfortunate injury, so let’s take a look at the grades for each position group.
Guards: A
Even though this team as a whole has played better throughout the second quarter of the season, it’s truly been the guard play that has propelled them. We’ll start with the face of the franchise, Cade Cunningham.
Cade is playing out of this world at the moment. He has taken the support Trajan Langdon surrounded him with and elevated his play. In fact, compared to the start of the season, Cade is performing either the same or better in every category other than total rebounds.
His scoring per game is up more than two whole points, 3PT% is up a full percent, assists are up .7 per night, and his turnovers have decreased by .8. Cade Cunningham has played at not just an All-Star level during the second quarter of the season, he’s played at an All-Star starter level.
Behind Cade, the Pistons unfortunately lost Jaden Ivey to a leg break on New Years Day, but prior to the injury, Ivey was absolutely on fire from deep, which is exactly what Detroit needed from him. His three point shooting was up a staggering seven percent from the first quarter of the season.
Malik Beasley and Tim Hardaway Jr. both continue to provide veteran leadership. THJ has seen his shooting turn a corner on the season, and Beasley is a true contender for Sixth Man of the Year. Similar to Cade, Beasley saw each of his categories increase as well. He’s one of the best three-point shooters in the NBA at the moment, hitting the 3rd-most overall, with 10 more 3-pointers on the season than Stephen Curry.
Even Marcus Sasser deserves credit as he has played well since Ivey went down with his injury. This may have been long-winded, but the guard play for Detroit truly deserves it.
Forwards: B
For as obvious and loud as the excellent play from the guards has been, the play from the forwards has been quietly putting in work as well. After only playing in four games during the first quarter of the season, Ausar Thompson logged 11 during the second, starting five of them.
Thompson is seeing some of the Fred Vinson effect, still connecting on over 30 percent of his three point attempts during this stretch. Both him and Ron Holland IIcontinue to awe fans and opposing players with their raw athleticism and ability. Holland has not missed a beat in his development, and his confidence is right up there as well. He, too, saw his Vinson effect by way of a 16%(!) rise in his perimeter shooting this quarter.
Simone Fontecchio and Tobias Harris both started the season off slow, Fontecchio coming off a foot surgery and Harris obviously getting acclimated to Detroit, again. Simone is still working on finding his shot once again, but Tobias is now connecting from three at a higher rate than early this season, spacing the floor exactly the way Detroit needs him to.
Again, not as eye popping of an improvement as the guards, but still a great showing from the forwards in the second quarter of the season.
Centers: C+
Moving onto the centers, their second quarter performances are much more difficult to grade. Paul Reed, who not much is expected from at the moment due to him being the third big, actually had multiple games in which he provided an energetic spark when Detroit needed one. His numbers all increased as he saw a few more minutes.
As for Detroit’s two main centers, Isaiah Stewart and Jalen Duren, they both saw most of their stats decrease compared to the first quarter of the year. We did see Stew increase his three-point shooting percentage by four percent, which is a great sign, and Duren increased his steals by .6, but all together, their numbers dipped slightly.
What isn’t shown in numbers, however, is the defense that was played by these two. Isaiah Stewart took yet another step in his rim protecting progression and has become one of the best in the league, even being slightly undersized. Jalen Duren, too, has taken a step in the right direction on the defensive end. It’s still in short bursts, and he has a long way to go, but JB Bickerstaff and big man coach Vitaly Potapenko look to be rubbing off on the Pistons centers.
So while the numbers may reflect a slight dip, defensively and the eye test beg to differ for the centers during the second quarter of the season.
Overall: A-
Over the second quarter of the season, Detroit and JB really began hitting their stride. As mentioned, the Pistons had a winning percentage of 58% percent, but had wins over contenders such as the Knicks (twice), the Heat, the Suns, and Timberwolves. Throughout this stretch, Detroit had an offensive rating of 113.5 (12th best in the NBA), defensive rating of 114.3, and net rating of -.8. That is elite level play compared to horrendous play just one year ago.
Mathematically, the Pistons should get a B+ rather than an A-. Call it bias if you want, but Detroit is one of the hottest franchises in the NBA at the moment and that deserves an A.
Truly everyone deserves credit for this recent resurgence; from Cade and his All-Star level play, to JB Bickerstaff having the guys energized and ready. It’s now up to them, however, to continue this newly expected level of competition into the third quarter of the season.