Cade Cunningham has been ruled out for tonight’s game against the Orlando Magic, so a tough road game for the Detroit Pistons just got tougher.
The nightmare scenario is if Cunningham has to miss significant time, but we’re not there yet and his hip bruise has him officially listed as day-to-day. It would be nice if the Pistons could get him back for Monday’s home game against Toronto, but given he was already suffering back spasms, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Cuningham miss a few games.
The Pistons will have to move on without him tonight against the NBA’s best defense and JB Bickerstaff will have plenty of lineup options depending on what strategy he wants to take against the Magic.
Pistons starting lineup: Veterans and shooters
The Magic are a smart, disciplined team that is 26th in the NBA in 3-point makes per game and dead last in percentage, so the Pistons could go with more of an offensive starting unit with veteran shooters to try and limit mistakes and decisively win the 3-point battle:
-Jaden Ivey
-Malik Beasley
-Tim Hardaway Jr.
-Tobias Harris
-Jalen Duren
The Pistons have to hope THJ returns to form, as he hasn’t been the same since getting kneed in the skull. I’d say some slack is warranted given the battering he took, but the Pistons will need him and Beasley to hit shots.
Ivey will need to get into the teeth of the defense and make them pay with the correct reads on kickouts and the shooters need to knock them down.
Pistons starting lineup: The defensive slug-fest
The Pistons are 12th in points per game allowed, while the Magic are 1st, so we could see coach Bickerstaff lean into a slug-fest with a defensive unit, hoping to win a close, low-scoring game.
-Jaden Ivey
-Ron Holland II
-Tim Hardaway Jr.
-Tobias Harris
-Isaiah Stewart
Stewart should probably be starting anyway given the Pistons are better on both ends when he’s on the floor over Duren, but this group would be about getting stops and then getting out in transition.
There isn’t much shooting here, which would be the concern, but coach Bickerstaff can swap in Beasley and Simone Fontecchio as needed with a dash of Marcus Sasser and Wendell Moore Jr.
Orlando is only 27th in the league in points per game, so coach Bickerstaff could try to steal one by shutting them down defensively and hoping to get timely shooting.
Pistons starting lineup: Keeping the bench intact
We could see a direct substitution for Cade Cunningham that would allow coach Bickerstaff to keep most players in their normal roles:
-Marcus Sasser
-Jaden Ivey
-THJ
-Tobias Harris
-Jalen Duren
This really shows how desperately the Pistons need a veteran point guard, which we talked endlessly about before the season, with the worst-case scenario now presenting itself.
It will be interesting to see if Ivey and Sasser can handle the lead guard duties against a tough Orlando defense.
The Pistons will need a full team effort to steal a road win against a good team, even if the Magic are also missing their star in Paolo Banchero.