The Detroit Pistons have played back-to-back overtime games on consecutive nights and I feel about as exhausted as the players do, as both were emotionally draining.
This has been true for most of the Pistons’ season, as they’ve become must-see TV, the NBA League Pass darlings for fans who want to see close, bizarre games.
The last five have come down to overtime or the last possession and these games were decided by a combined 13 points, seven of which came last night in the overtime loss to Milwaukee.
But one other number stood out from last night, and that’s the number of free throw attempts, as Giannis Antetokounmpo had 17 of them, more than the entire Pistons team combined (13).
This is nothing new, as the Pistons have gotten lousy whistles going back years, we just didn’t notice because the games weren’t close and didn’t really matter.
Now that the Pistons are more competitive, this free-throw disparity is killing them.
Detroit Pistons stats: Free-throw attempts
First off, I am in no way saying that free throws or referees have cost the Pistons all of these close games.
Detroit hasn’t done themselves any favors with untimely turnovers, missed free throws, late scoring droughts and mental errors of their own.
But it doesn’t help that they can’t get a call.
The Pistons are 25th in the NBA in free-throw attempts per game, which in itself doesn’t prove anything. They are shooting just over 20 free throws per game on average, while the top two teams in attempts, Denver and LA Lakers are getting 28.3 and 27.5, respectively.
This makes some sense, as they have dominant centers who happen to be superstars and superstars get calls. Both are veteran teams that know how to work the refs, something the Pistons are still learning.
But when you dig deeper into the numbers, something doesn’t add up, as the Pistons aren’t some 3-point chucking team that never goes to the paint. They are just 20th in 3-point attempts per game and 10th in points from 2-pointers, so Detroit has lived in the paint and mid-range, the areas where most fouls are drawn.
The Pistons are 15th in points in the paint per game, so even though they only have one real center, Detroit is getting a lot of their points down low. Their 48.3 points per game in the paint are more than the Nuggets, who shoot eight more free throws per game on average.
There is one player in particular who does not get many calls, and his name is Cade Cunningham.
Cade Cunningham stats: Free-throw attempts
Cade Cunningham took a whopping 34 shots last night against the Bucks and got four free throws. Giannis also took 34 shots for the Bucks, but was rewarded with 17 free throws.
Obviously, Giannis’ game is different, but both players draw plenty of attention and contact, but one is rewarded with free throws at a much higher rate.
This is true of almost all of the stars who are taking a lot of shot attempts for their teams.
Cade Cunnigham is 7th in the NBA in shot attempts per game with just over 20, not far behind Luka Doncic who takes 23 shots per game to lead the league.
But Cunningham is just 50th in free-throw attempts, a stunning number that doesn’t line up with his usage when compared to other players.
The six players ahead of Cade in attempts all take far more free throws per game than him, with Giannis getting more than 10, Luka 7, Tyrese Maxey 6.43, Jayson Tatum 8.92 and Jaylen Brown 8 to lead the way.
Cade Cunningham gets four free throw-attempts per game on average.
You don’t even need the numbers, as the eye test tells you everything. I am as biased as they come but there have been countless plays this year when Cade was egregiously hacked and didn’t get a call. I’m not talking about touch fouls or 50/50 calls here, I’m talking no-doubter, Rick Mahorn-style fouls that anyone with vision can see.
Cade was literally held to the floor on a jump ball by Bam Adebayo with the referee’s face about 10 inches from the action. No call.
He gets hit on just about every shot he takes in the paint, and defenders have been allowed to hack him with impunity, which is one of the reasons he has so many turnovers.
This may sound like sour grapes or whining but the numbers don’t lie and something isn’t right when one player takes more free throws than your whole team.
Something has to change, as Cade and the Detroit Pistons are not getting rewarded in ways that other teams are. We all know superstars get calls, something we have to begrudgingly accept, and since Detroit doesn’t have one yet, maybe that’s the issue, but it is an issue.