Two years ago the Phoenix Suns took a 26-39 record into the NBA’s COVID-19 bubble in Orlando and went 8-0 in what seemed to the rest of the world as empty, meaningless games. Less than 12 months later, the Suns found themselves in the NBA Finals and this year they’ve been the wire-to-wire best team in the league, amassing seven more wins than anyone with a week left in the season.
It's an extreme example, of course, and the addition of future Hall of Famer Chris Paul was wedged between the bubble and the Finals, so extrapolate the experience of other teams looking to replicate Phoenix’s turnaround with caution.
But it suits Dwane Casey’s mission to point out to his Pistons – who’ve maintained admirable zeal for the moment despite getting little reward for much of a season marked by key injuries – what a little success late in the season can do for self-perception and incentive.
“Our big step is going to come from our free agency and the pick we get in the draft. Add those two guys, whoever it is, but the momentum, the confidence level that these guys are getting right now is similar to what Phoenix did – they added Chris Paul – when they had a good bubble. They roll into summer time with confidence. If these games give a guy like Saddiq Bey and Cade (Cunningham) coming back next year confidence, what they’re doing now, it’s going to be a huge step for them. It’s hard to turn off.”
Cunningham didn’t play at Indiana on Sunday – joining Jerami Grant, Hamidou Diallo, Marvin Bagley and Cory Joseph idled by injury – after the hard spill and bruised tailbone suffered in last week’s 34-point outing at Brooklyn, but Bey might have been on his way to another 50-point night if Casey hadn’t pulled him early in the third quarter. Bey was a perfect 6 of 6 from the 3-point arc in the game’s first six minutes and scored 26 by halftime, finishing with 31 in just 23 minutes.
“My team did a great job of playing the right way, moving the ball,” Bey said after hitting 7 of 9 triples to extend his Pistons record for triples made in a season to 208. “For me, it’s just taking whatever shot is open and staying aggressive. We did a great job tonight of moving the ball. We got up a lot of threes. It was just a testament to how the game was flowing.”
“He’s a rare breed,” said Frank Jackson, who started in Cunningham’s spot and backed Bey with 19 points, one of seven players in double figures. “That dude’s a bona fide hooper. He knows how to put the ball in the basket because he can do so much more than shoot that thing. He works harder than anyone on the team. To see the success he’s had and the leap he’s been able to make it not really a surprise in my eyes. Such a good dude.”
Bey’s 2020 draft mates, Isaiah Stewart and Killian Hayes, also made their marks in abbreviated stints. Hayes continued his late-season surge with 10 points, hitting 2 of 3 triples, and seven assists with only one turnover in 22 minutes.
The Pistons set a franchise record for triples made in a half by knocking down 13 in the first half when they drained 10 of their first 11. Getting in on the act was Carsen Edwards, signed earlier in the day and getting to the arena two hours before tipoff from Chicago, where he was with his Salt Lake G League team. Edwards, the former two-time All-American from Purdue drafted 33rd overall in 2019, finished with 13 points and nine assists in 31 minutes.
“He had no clue what we were doing,” Casey grinned. “He just walked off the street, came in and played hard, played the right way, made the plays available to him. He’s a little spark plug. He did what he’s supposed to do.”
All nine Pistons to play knocked down at least one triple, including Stewart, who made his only attempt and now has more threes made in the last week – five – than he did in the season’s first 74 games, when he went 4 of 28.
What that means for next season and beyond remains to be seen, but Casey is more certain of the value of the momentum the Pistons have built since mid-February. After going 12-45 around the injuries to Cunningham, Grant and Kelly Olynyk, the Pistons are 11-11 in their last 22 games.
“These guys are coming in and playing the right way, playing hard and that’s the sign of a good culture,” he said. “Our guys are professional because they have every reason to turn it off right now and get ready for the summer, but they haven’t. They’re dedicated, they’re professionals and that’s what you want to build your team around.”