FAST BREAKDOWN
Three quick observations from Thursday night’s 109-98 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers at Little Caesars Arena
HALF-WAY THERE – Dwane Casey said before Thursday’s loss that he would be more patient with his young core with regard to considering lineup tweaks than he would be with a more veteran team, especially given where the Pistons are on their timeline. The starters, averaging an NBA-low 51.1 points a game over the first seven, validated Casey’s patience with them, nearly hitting their average in a 45-point first half alone with the Pistons scoring 66 first-half points, 12 above their previous season high. The second half? That was another story. Cade Cunningham was the only starter to score over the first eight-plus minutes of the third quarter, scoring seven of his 18 points, and the Pistons managed only 16 third-quarter points to trail by four heading to the fourth – when Philadelphia went on an 11-0 run as the Pistons failed to score on their first seven possessions. After shooting 52 percent in the first half, the Pistons slumped from there to finish at 40.2 percent, scoring just 32 second-half points. Jerami Grant scored 22 first-half points and added five in the second to lead the Pistons with 27.
NO LIMITS – Cade Cunningham, who played more than 30 minutes for the first time, was held out of Sunday’s game at Brooklyn when it fell one night after his Saturday debut but he won’t be held out of Friday’s return match with the Nets, also a back to back. Dwane Casey said, “I’ll let the medical people make that decision, but I’ve been told all the restrictions are off,” before Thursday’s game. That includes a minutes limitation, which was 20-25 minutes for his debut but was amended or tossed out after that as Cunningham played 29 minutes in Tuesday’s loss to Milwaukee and 32 in Thursday’s game. Cunningham looked more comfortable immediately on Thursday, making three eye-catching plays in the first three minutes: hitting Isaiah Stewart with a pretty pass for a layup, scoring on a floater in the paint with deft touch and getting to the line for free throws after another strong move. He shot in some tough luck Thursday, several shots looking good but bouncing off, and finished at 4 of 17 and 1 of 7 from three. But he led the Pistons with 11 rebounds, got to the line frequently (9 of 10) and added three assists. His streak of consecutive missed 3-pointers ended at 18 on his fifth try of the night, a 35-foot bomb when he got caught with the ball as the shot clock was about to expire.
TRIPLE TRAVAILS – The Pistons came into Thursday’s game mired in last place in the NBA in 3-point shooting at 26.7 percent despite the fact they’ve been in or near the top 10 over the first few weeks in wide-open 3-point shots as defined by the NBA. Thursday looked like they’d figured a few things out, but it ended up barely better than their season average: 11 of 36, 30.6 percent. They were on track for their best showing of the season, but they still have just one game this season – a 36.4 percent mark in Sunday’s loss at Brooklyn – when they’ve shot it better than the NBA average. In their lone win, the Pistons made a season-high 14 3-point attempts against Orlando, though it came on 43 attempts. After hitting 9 of 19 in the first half, the Pistons manage to make just 2 of 17 in the second half. Seven different Pistons made a 3-pointer with Jerami Grant, Killian Hayes, Frank Jackson and Kelly Olynyk making two apiece.