It was bad – everything was bad. For the Detroit Pistons and for Pistons fans. It was the kind of game that had people saying “goodnight” to each other in the game thread after the first quarter.
The Pistons were down 26 (!) points after the game’s first 12 minutes. They actually earned a puppy point in the second but were still down 69-46 at halftime. The turnover issues continued with 11 – and even worse, it wasn’t Cade. It’s never a good thing when your lower-usage players are the ones constantly turning the ball over. There wasn’t much defense to be found on the perimeter as the Knicks went 9-for-17 from deep. Detroit’s 46 first-half points were a season-low.
The Knicks started the first possession of the second half with a KAT isolation against Duren that resulted in an easy layup and Isaiah Stewart being subbed in right away. Duren struggled on both sides of the court tonight – even Paul Reed got some minutes (and played well!). JD’s defense continues to be a roller coaster of an experience, and for those keeping track, there are far more downs than there have been ups.
The Pistons ended up losing 128-98 – time to forget that game and get ready for Sunday’s afternoon matinee with the Brooklyn Nets. They’re going to need to show up on time for that game.
The Pistons were led by Cade Cunningham with 22 points. Simone Fontecchio had 12 on an efficient 5-of-7 shooting in garbage time (because the whole game was garbage time), and Tobias Harris had 13 and eight rebounds.
The Knicks were led by Jalen Brunson who scored an extremely effortless 36 points. Karl-Anthony towns and OG Anunoby added 21 points each.
I do at least want to give JB Bickerstaff a shout out for his decisions tonight. He wasn’t afraid to try different looks or take a look at new lineups. There was a nice stretch the Pistons had with Tobias at the five – they used a 5-out look on offense that resulted in an easy layup over Brunson for Cade because the help was too far away. Moments like that make me hope he’s more willing to try things like this in the future.
He also wasn’t afraid to sub players out when he wasn’t happy with their effort on defense. He was active on the sidelines with his team down 30, and I can at least appreciate that we have a real head coach to lead these guys.
