The Pistons made the game interesting late, but a 55-point Kawhi Leonard was too much for Detroit to overcome
On Sunday night, Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard was an automatic bucket regardless of whoever the Pistons sent his way in what was a 55-point explosion for the six-time All-Star. Detroit was able to make the game interesting in the latter stages of the fourth quarter, but the Pistons hovered around a 10-point deficit for much of that time and were unable to close the gap in the 112-99 loss.
With Detroit dropping their second consecutive game on the road, Cade Cunningham took a long time to get going against the Clippers with a scoreless first half. During that timeframe, Cade picked up three fouls and turned the ball over three times, so the Pistons’ All-Pro was not his usual self in the early stages of the Western Conference tilt.
But after halftime, Cunningham wasted little time in attacking the basket and began filling up the scoresheet as he’s known to do. Cade’s first points in the second half were acquired at the free throw line, then the savvy point guard meandered into the paint repeatedly to make the Pistons’ gradual charge back into the game. Cunningham finished with 27 points on the night to go along with nine assists and five rebounds, so it was still a productive– albeit delayed– performance for Cade.
"I felt like the energy was good," Bickerstaff said after the game. "I thought that we kind of played into their hands a little bit with the way they defend. They do a great job of shrinking the floor. They're active with their hands, getting deflections, protecting the paint, just making sure we make the simple play, which a lot of times is just going to be the easy kick-out and live with the results of that but trust in each other to do that."
Apart from the irregular rhythm from Detroit’s leader, the Pistons benefited from an 18-point, 14-rebound game from Jalen Duren, who was pivotal in energizing Detroit in the first quarter when James Harden and Leonard were already shooting the ball all over.
To that effect, both Leonard and Harden had eight points in the first four minutes of the contest and Leonard kept on going after that. At first, Ausar Thompson was assigned the uncomfortable task of guarding Leonard, but that did not work well for Detroit. After that, the Pistons cycled in a combination of Isaiah Stewart, Tobias Harris and Ron Holland to help contain the dynamic two-way Clippers forward, but nobody had much success.
Whether by dribble-drive, mid-range jumper or three-point shot, Leonard’s shot was dialed in as he went 17-for-26 from the field in a night when he was in attack mode. The Pistons are usually steadfast in neutralizing the primary offensive threat on the other side, but Detroit was rather ineffective in that department against Los Angeles.
“I’m going to enjoy this one tonight, and I’m happy we got the win,” Leonard said after the game.
In addition to his prolific scoring output, Leonard grabbed 11 rebounds to complement a suffocating defensive effort with five steals and three blocks as well. So, Leonard was all over the court versus the Pistons, and there was simply not much Detroit could do about it.
The Pistons fall to 24-8 on the season and will continue their road swing against the Los Angeles Lakers at 10:30 pm on Tuesday, Dec. 30.
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