The Detroit Pistons won back-to-back games for only the third time this season, but some victories are sweeter than others.
Beating the Lakers is always a treat, especially around the holiday season, and especially when it ends a seven-game losing streak in Los Angeles.
The Pistons hadn’t beaten the Lakers in LA since the 2016-17 season, another streak wiped off the board.
The Pistons also swept the season series with the Lakers, another holiday gift for this Pistons fan who has been despising the Lakers for longer than most of you have been alive.
Sure, Detroit almost blew another lead, and it was hardly a perfect game, but it put an exclamation point on what was a great night for the Pistons, who had two wins at this point last season and may eclipse last year’s win total before the calendar flips.
Cade Cunningham is a star and his haters are awfully quiet
One of the worst things about modern fandom are the online trolls who choose a player to either worship or hate for no good reason.
Cade Cunningham had plenty of the latter group after being the #1 pick and not immediately being a superstar on some historically bad teams, while most of us thought that it would just take a few competent teammates and some time to unlock him.
But boy it’s been crickets from those folks lately.
Cunningham has been amazing, culminating with winning Eastern Conference Player of the Week yesterday after posting a week of 27 points 12.5 assists, 5.3 rebounds, 2.3 blocks and a steal per game while shooting 49 percent from the floor and over 40 percent from long range
He’s making all of the right reads on offense to the point that it looks like he has precognition, which has been helped by having veteran teammates who know how to move without the ball and slide into their spots.
Malik Beasley has been a blessing for Cunningham in this regard, and though he’s taken some heat from fans of late, Tim Hardaway Jr. has also been great in this role.
Two areas of growth really stand out for Cade this season, and that’s his defense and 3-point shooting. Cunningham has stepped up defensively and has accepted the challenge of taking on tougher assignments.
He’s had several key, game-saving blocks this season and is averaging just under a block and a steal per game. He’s taking it seriously and that has been infectious on the other young players who follow his lead.
He’s also launching the most 3-point shots of his career and is making defenders pay when they decide to back off or go under screens to stop his drives to the paint. He’s taking 6.4 per game from long range and making a career-high 37.3 percent of them.
Cunningham didn’t even have a good game against the Lakers but still controlled it, which is what good players do.
He’s on his way to his first All-Star appearance and has a strong argument that he should be starting for the Eastern Conference.
As a fan, it’s been great to watch Cade hit every marker set for him this season and then some, and it will be a silent night (sorry) for his haters this holiday season.
Have a great Christmas, Pistons fans, and thanks for reading! You all make this my dream job and I appreciate you all (even weird Facebook guy). Peace!