Team effort required with Cade Cunningham sidelined
The Detroit Pistons were determined not to let this game come down to the final shot—not after two back-breaking losses in consecutive games. A short-handed Pistons team without its engine, Cade Cunningham, worked together and stormed out of the gate to beat the Philadelphia 76ers 125-112.
The Pistons scored a season-high 78 points and went up by as many as 34 points in the first half. It was the most first-half points they’d scored since 1982. Malik Beasley, perhaps miffed he wasn’t asked to the 3-point contest, hit eight threes in the first half and a couple late to seal the win. He finished with 36 points and went 9-of-19 from deep.
“We talked about it taking the collective to get it done,” JB Bickerstaff said. “We’ve talked about positionless basketball offensively where everybody gets to be a part of it, and I think that’s the guys did a great job of — finding the right next play.”
Detroit never makes it easy on themselves, though. When the game started to slow and the fouls started to be called, Philadelphia was able to crawl back. The Sixers got as close as 11 points late in the fourth, but Detroit was able to make one last push and put the game away.
Without Cunningham in the lineup and with Dennis Schroder not yet with the team, point guard duties were mostly handled by Ausar Thompson. He also happened to have the best nine-minute opening stretch in his career.
He pushed the ball up the floor and dictated the pace of the game, scoring nine points, grabbing six rebounds, drawing fouls, and playing intense defense against a Sixers team that wasn’t prepared for Detroit’s energy.
“I thought he was elite at what he did. To have that size, that speed, that power. The ability to defensive rebound the ball, to have court vision,” Bickerstaff said. “Every time he pushes it … he doesn’t have his head down so he can see the floor and make plays for other people around him. He’s a weapon, and we just have to keep helping him develop.”
Maybe they thought the night would be easy against a Pistons team without its All-Star. But the Pistons knew that to have a chance, they had to push the pace, play with tempo, and catch the Sixers off guard.
“Going into the game, we were thinking, we just gotta find a way to win,” said Isaiah Stewart, who finished with 10 points and eight rebounds. “We knew it was going to take every single one of us to get the job done tonight, and we did just that.”
When the game naturally slowed down, Philly relied on some patented Embiid flailing, and it started to work. The lead started to dwindle, and that forced Detroit to start doubling the Philly center. That opened up some open shots and the Sixers started getting hot just when Detroit went cold.
The Sixers were led by Tyrese Maxey with 27 points. Embiid scored 23, including eight from the free-throw line. The Pistons might not have been able to coast to a victory, but they never doubted themselves, even as the game got closer.
If anything, the trials and tribulations that many of these young players faced last year and since 2020 have made them resilient in the face of adversity—now that they have enough talent to actually win games.
“I’ve been through the mud,” said Stewart. “This is my first season where we’re actually winning games and playing meaningful games.
“When you’re stuck in that mud, when you’re losing games, you don’t know what the other side looks like until you actually experience it, You know, I’m experiencing it right now, and it’s just a great feeling.”