It turns out, Newton’s Third Law applies to basketball, as well. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. The overwhelming stain on the Pistons 2022-23 season is losing Cade Cunningham for all but the blink of an eye at its beginning. But the compelling effect of Cunningham’s loss is coming into increasingly sharper focus as the season speeds to its conclusion.
Hello, Jaden Ivey.
Dwane Casey was prescient when he said back in December, once Cunningham came grudgingly to the decision surgery was necessary to address persistent shin pain, “There’s a silver lining behind all of this.”
Ivey, more of a glittery gold of late, is proving to be that silver lining. The evolution has been ongoing, picking up real speed at mid-season, gaining further momentum coming out of the All-Star break and looking ready to burst through the tape this week. In narrow back-to-back losses Monday and Tuesday despite missing a full platoon of players, Ivey sparkled. He exceeded his previous best in assists, 11, in each game, combining for 25 against six turnovers.
And on Tuesday – without veteran scoring anchors Bojan Bogdanovic or Alec Burks in the lineup, without Isaiah Stewart or Jalen Duren or Killian Hayes or Hamidou Diallo or, of course, Cunningham – when it came time to match the scoring power of Bradley Beal, it was Ivey who filled the void. Fourteen of his 26 points came after Ivey re-entered the game with 9:21 to go and the Pistons trailing by five. He hit 4 of 7 shots, including his only triple try, plus 5 of 6 free throws to go with two rebounds and two assists.
“That’s a win,” Casey said, meaning Ivey’s explosion into a difference maker and what it portends for the future of the Pistons. “It kills us right now, lose a tight game like that, but the growth he had. … He had some turnovers tonight he didn’t have the last game, but when it came to closing time and getting buckets, the way you have to have someone to break a defense down like that … really happy with Jaden’s growth and his progress in these last couple of weeks.”
Just as Ivey and Duren began exhibiting clear signs of a budding chemistry between them before Duren’s ankle injuries forced him from the lineup a few weeks ago, so too are Ivey and newcomer James Wiseman displaying a certain synergy. Six of Wiseman’s 10 buckets against Washington were set up by Ivey. In the third quarter, Ivey used a Wiseman screen to get into the paint, geared down to let the play develop and pin the defender to his hip and, at the perfect time, threw a perfect lob to Wiseman for a dunk.
“We talk about it a lot,” Wiseman said of their pick-and-roll partnership. “Watching film and seeing what I can do to set better screens. I like to get him open because when he’s going downhill, nobody can stop him.”
It harkened back to the preseason when Memphis came to town and Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins, based off just a few preseason games, saw how Ivey’s speed could have the same catalytic effect on Detroit’s offense as Ja Morant’s had on Memphis’.
“I think Jaden’s pace of play is just going to be a tone setter,” Jenkins said. “A couple of games we’ve watched, his ability in transition, to break down a defense one on one, pick and roll as well, getting a piece of the paint, unlocks so much. … You’re going to have to pick your poison a little bit.”
And then Jenkins envisioned the future that Pistons fans will have to wait until next season to experience.
“The more you can get playmakers on the floor – Cade, Jaden – when you’re got two guys who can complement each other, that’s going to be a pretty lethal duo.”
Newton didn’t have a Fourth Law of Motion. Jaden Ivey and Cade Cunningham get to write that one themselves.