The Pistons take their fourth victory of the season behind Cade’s third consecutive triple-double
Well, that was exhilarating.
Let’s start with the ending:
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) November 9, 2024
That’s a tough, tough basket over a tough, tough defender in Dyson Daniels by Cade Cunningham. Followed by some great individual defense by Jaden Ivey, forcing Trae Young to give it up, and Cade zips things up with a block from behind.
Pistons coach JB Bickerstaff on Cade Cunningham: “I don’t say this lightly: He’s the guy.”
— Vincent Goodwill (@VinceGoodwill) November 9, 2024
For Cade, that’s exactly the type of early-season performance that sticks in All-Star voter’s minds. I’m not saying, I’m just saying.
BEFORE that, though, the Pistons let a 17-point first quarter lead evaporate slowly, then all at once. The Pistons were outscored in the second (30-26), third (32-29), and fourth (36-27!) quarters, with turnovers and missed free throws (21-31 from the line) playing an ever-worrying role. Cade Cunningham, for all his heroics, had 7 turnovers (matching Dyson Daniels’ 7 steals), and the Pistons coughed it up multiple times down the stretch of this game.
Was it an ugly win? Sure. But they won! They’re 4-6 and it took last year’s Pistons until JANUARY 15TH to get four wins !
The Pistons got contributions up and down the roster tonight: Veteran Leader Malik Beasley had 22 points off the bench, Simone Fontecchio looks to be getting out of his slow start to the season with 11 points, Tobias Harris hit five threes and had 22 points, and Jaden Ivey scored 18 points on a variety of finishes around the rim. They hit 39% of their threes as a team, and rebounded pretty well despite not having their starting center (get well soon, Jalen Duren).
Detroit has been winning games without playing amazing basketball. I’ll be very, very excited to see where this team is when they stop turning the ball over. These wins build belief in their ability to close out games in the future, wins like this are the building blocks of the resilience you need to be successful in the exhaustive 82-game regular season.
Next up, the Pistons play Sunday against Houston at Little Caesars Arena. It’s even a matinee game, so you won’t miss the Lions on Sunday Night Football. Having been to a couple of games already this year, you should go, this team is fun to see.