The Detroit Pistons are alive and well, up 2-0 in the playoffs. The best part is that it's not been all Cade Cunningham, either. One of the team's main critiques entering the postseason was that it didn't have anyone to turn to outside of its star point guard to create offense. It was still a concern in the first round, but just like that, it's no longer the issue it was.
In the Pistons' Game 2 107-97 win over the Cavaliers, Cunningham still had a team-high 25 points, but Tobias Harris (who has overall had a great postseason thus far) had 21 on 9-of-16 shooting from the field (2-of-3 from three), and Duncan Robinson had 17 on 5-of-9 shooting from deep. Ausar Thompson had 10 points on 5-of-8 shooting.
Daniss Jenkins led the bench with 14 points on 6-of-14 shooting, and Caris LeVert had eight points in 13 minutes.
There were doubts about whether Detroit would even make it past Orlando in the first round, but now, Cunningham and his supporting cast are headed in the right direction toward the conference finals.
It's funny how quickly things can change.
Pistons don't have to solely rely on Cade Cunningham
Last year in the first round, it was Cunningham who willed Detroit to a Game 6 against New York, but the Pistons couldn't overcome Jalen Brunson's clutchness in the end. They had no one to turn to outside of Cade.
He's still their go-to star, but it's not just him who has put the struggling Cavaliers in a 2-0 hole. It's been a collective team effort on the offensive end, and that alone has the Pistons' championship aspirations looking a lot better than anyone thought.
It's Cleveland who is stuck trying to figure out how to get someone going outside of Donovan Mitchell. The front office traded for James Harden for that reason, but we all know how that's gone.
Pistons proving they didn't need to make a big deadline splash
Detroit sat at the top of the East for the majority of the season, but leading up to the deadline, there was chatter about whether the Pistons would make a splash by adding another creator and shooter to boost their playoff hopes. Trajan Langdon didn't do that, opting to let the season play out.
That didn't look like a wise decision at the start of the postseason, but holding off has proven to be the right call. Even if the season doesn't end the way the Pistons want, the playoffs will still serve as a valuable point of reference for the front office as they work to determine how to tweak the roster for next season.
For now, Cunningham and Co. look pretty good.
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