The Detroit Pistons gutted out a win against the LA Clippers at home for their seventh in a row.
The Pistons haven’t had a win streak this long in a decade and the vibes in Detroit couldn’t be better right now.
Cade Cunningham just kept coming at the Clippers and eventually broke through, scoring 32 points with nine rebounds, seven assists and three steals. He hit big shots, and even though he was only 9-of-22 from the field, he made up for it at the free-throw line, hitting 10-of-12.
Jalen Duren was a force on the boards, Isaiah Stewart was a wall at the rim, Ausar Thompson did a little bit of everything with four steals and two blocks, Malik Beasley hit timely 3-point shots and JB Bickerstaff won his challenge. It was another team win and everyone played a part.
This team is not a fluke and is showing a quality that all great teams have: adaptability.
Detroit Pistons: Shoot it out, grind it out
The game against Atlanta didn’t feature much defense, with both teams flying up and down the floor and trading baskets for an All-Star game combined score of 291 points.
The Pistons shot nearly 60 percent from the floor as a team and hit 20 of their 40 attempts from long range. A defensive struggle, it was not.
Things weren’t so easy tonight, as the Pistons were up against one of the better defensive teams in the league and it showed early.
It did seem like the Pistons had heavy legs early on and only managed 23 points in the first quarter after the Clippers came out aggressively on defense and managed to play physically without fouling.
Nothing came easy, but the Pistons just kept coming at them in waves and eventually wore the Clippers down. LA was shorthanded and Detroit clearly had a gameplan in the second half, which was to keep attacking the paint and forcing the refs to blow the whistle, which they did.
The Pistons attempted 36 free throws to 19 for the Clippers, largely because they were the aggressor, kept going to the rim and trying to stop Cade Cunningham eventually takes its toll.
This game could have been won a lot earlier if the Pistons had made more of those free throws, as they missed 11 of them, something that could have come back to haunt them had they not been able to grind out the win.
Good teams can win in a variety of ways and the Pistons have shown that the last two nights, adjusting to their opponents, and keeping their intensity through different styles.