After a murderer’s row of opponents – NBA title favorite Brooklyn, reigning NBA champion Milwaukee, title aspirant Philadelphia and Brooklyn again – over a six-day span, playing a back to back, the Pistons got to the fourth quarter Friday wheezing and trailing by 16 points.
Eight minutes later, they’d cut it to one, had Little Caesars Arena at full throat and were on the cusp of witnessing Cade Cunningham flowering into a late-game savant. Then Kevin Durant reminded everyone that such a metamorphosis is measured in seasons, not days.
“There’s no participation awards, but I did like the way we competed,” Dwane Casey said after the 96-90 loss to Brooklyn. “We hung in there.”
Cunningham completed his first week by scoring 18 and 17 points in his first NBA back to back and scored eight fourth-quarter points Friday. But every time the Pistons had a chance to take the lead in the fourth quarter and didn’t – Cory Joseph missed a three and Cunningham did a few trips later – Durant, who arrived 14 years ago with much the same fanfare that delivered Cunningham to the Pistons with the No. 1 pick, made the Pistons pay at the other end.
“Cunningham ran the show and made shots,” Casey said. “In the end, he wanted the shots. He hunted the shots.”
“He’s a big-time player. He makes big-time plays,” Frank Jackson said. “And he’s going to continue to do so. It was cool to see him step up.”
Cunningham wasn’t alone among the youth brigade in rising to the moment. Killian Hayes sat out with a thumb injury incurred in Thursday’s loss, but the two other 2020 first-rounders, Isaiah Stewart and Saddiq Bey, were also front and center during the second-half comeback.
Stewart was plagued by foul trouble and logged only 11 minutes through three quarters, but he was a rock in the fourth quarter – bouncy and active in the middle of the defense, active on the glass and physical at both ends. Stewart’s fourth-quarter stats alone: nine points, five boards and three blocked shots.
And the thing that resonated most will be something that didn’t show up in the box score: Stewart rousing the crowd – not to mention his teammates – when he objected to Blake Griffin’s tactics during their entanglement that ended with both on the hardwood, then Stewart glowering down at Griffin – and subsequently each getting slapped with technical fouls.
“He plays like that every day – practice, game, doesn’t matter,” Bey said. “He plays aggressive, hard. It’s a testament to him and his consistency, his mindset, every game. We see that from him every day.”
“His energy, his toughness, his fortitude is off the charts,” Casey said. “He gave us that spirit, that backbone, that we need.”
Bey’s night was in step with that of his team. He struggled, going 1 of 7 to start, but finished with 12 gritty points. In that 1 of 7 start was a dunk when Bey didn’t quit on a possession, picked up a loose ball that James Harden stopped pursuing and scored.
“I saw the ball roll. Whistle didn’t blow yet,” Bey said, “so I’m going to keep trying to play. I was just trying to finish every possession.”
In the end, the Nets had the NBA’s premier closer, Durant, and he finished with 29 points and 10 rebounds, scoring eight points down the stretch to keep the Pistons from ever taking the lead.
The Pistons are now 1-8 after the season’s first 17 days, playing the second toughest schedule in the league with the third-youngest starting lineup and overall roster. They wrap up that stretch with two promising signs: The fight they showed at the tail end of an exhausting week and the glimmer of future closer they saw from their precocious rookie.
“Keep shooting, no matter what and not afraid to take shots in big moments,” Bey said of Cunningham’s quick assimilation after missing all of training camp and the preseason with a sprained ankle. “We need that and it’s going to be good for us in the future.”
“I liked the way our guys competed,” Casey said. “Even though we only shot 32 percent from three and 38 percent from the floor, we still put ourselves in position to win. It doesn’t feel like it right now, but what we’re building is sustainable.”