The Detroit Pistons have the benefit of rostering one of the NBA’s top playmakers in Cade Cunningham
From a micro perspective, basketball can be viewed as a game of runs, and the Detroit Pistons’ season has reflected that from a macro perspective as well.
Early in November, the Pistons put together what grew into a 13-game winning streak that tied a franchise record for consecutive victories in the process. After the All-Star Break, Detroit fell into another season-long streak with a four-game skid, but the Pistons have the program back on track with three straight victories leading into tomorrow afternoon’s game against the Toronto Raptors.
During their last three wins, the Pistons have found ways to piece together victories, but they’ve done so without Cade Cunningham’s usual influence on the score sheet. Cunningham is averaging just 15.3 points per game during this stretch, but the All-Star’s backseat as a scorer is actually indicative of the Pistons’ overall health as a basketball team according to J.B. Bickerstaff.
“The sacrifice of guys just continuing to do it over and over again,” Bickerstaff said after Detroit’s 126-110 win over the Memphis Grizzlies. “Like, Cade always can take more than 11 shots, but the right thing for him to do was to find our bigs and the mismatches in the paint and he just did that over and over again, right? That’s sacrifice, that’s leadership, and that’s understanding what it takes to win basketball games.”
In last night’s win over Memphis, the Pistons jumped out to an early lead with Cunningham slinging the rock around and facilitating the offense for his teammates. Cunningham finished the game with 15 assists in the double-digit victory without taking his car out of second gear from a scoring perspective simply because Detroit had the game under control from bell to whistle.
Against the Grizzlies, Cunningham was able to make a few key reads early on that allowed the Pistons to punish Memphis in the paint on a repeated basis. The Grizzlies were shorthanded in terms of big men entering the matchup, and Cunningham quickly spotted that weakness and exploited it.
“He’s elite at it, and we’ve talked about it in the past, but what he has the ability to do that some people struggle with is he can make the adjustment in the moment,” Bickerstaff said. “He can see what the defense is doing and then be prepared to make the play in advance. A lot of times, it takes guys three, four, five minutes to figure it out, but he has the ability to figure it out on command. IQ, size, willingness, he just continues to amaze us every night.”
As a playmaker, no player in the NBA has more assists this season than Cunningham. As a scorer, Cunningham has the ability to take over, like he’s done against the New York Knicks this year, but he also possesses the wherewithal to recognize when his teammates already have the game under control.
Against the Grizzlies on Saturday night, Cunningham sensed that Jalen Duren’s 30-point game would be enough to lift the Pistons to their third straight victory.
Next up, the Pistons’ All-Star duo will direct their attention to a playoff-bound Raptors squad with tip-off set for 3:30 pm tomorrow in Toronto.
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