The Detroit Pistons outlasted the Charlotte Hornets last night in an ugly game with plenty of defense and bricked shots.
Both teams failed to score 100 points in a game that often looked like something out of the 1990’s. The shots weren’t always falling, especially in the first half, but the Pistons did a nice job sharing the ball, with four players logging at least three assists.
One of them was Kevin Huerter, who tallied three assists in just 19 minutes, showing how he can be more than just a scorer and adds to the offense even when he only nets three points.
Kevin Huerter’s movement and dribbling create space
Huerter was a factor when Cade Cunningham was on the bench last night, and the Pistons were struggling to score.
Huerter was doing his best Duncan Robinson impersonation, flying off screens and hit an early movement 3-ball from the top of the key which seems to be his favorite spot.
After that, he was mostly used as a decoy, continuing to break hard off screens and drag defenders with him, which kept the defense in motion and opened things up for Daniss Jenkins, who briefly took over the game.
Even when Huerter isn’t shooting, he creates gravity with his movement and once he does get the ball, is a slick dribbler and passer in traffic.
He got the ball several times on the move and was able to completely shift the defense in his direction, which left cutters open on the weak side. On one such play in the second half, Huerter got the defense leaning his direction and then reversed it quickly to Ausar Thompson for the lob and dunk.
Huerter may not be as good a 3-point shooter as Duncan Robinson or Isaiah Joe, but teams have to respect him and Huerter is far more effective off the dribble when he gets run off his initial spot.
Kevin Huerter may be the Pistons’ most versatile bench player, which was why he was on the floor for much of crunch time last night, as he offers defense that Robinson does not.
You can see why the Pistons elected to keep Huerter around, as he does a little bit of everything as a connector on offense, and can be a weapon as a secondary attacker.
It’s still early, but I said before the season that Huerter would either be a steal or a sunk cost with no in between and so far, he’s far closer to being an asset than a detriment.
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