On Monday, Oklahoma City came to LCA to face our young Pistons squad.
Detroit dug themselves into an early hole and trailed 33-28 after the first quarter, and even further behind at the half 63-48.
However, this was a tale of two halves as they came out in the third and out-scored the Thunder by 14 in the quarter cutting the deficit to just one heading into the fourth. And in that final quarter, the Pistons finished the comeback by out-scoring the Thunder by 10 to pick up the win.
OKC guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was the leading scorer for the game with 33. Leading the Pistons was Saddiq Bey with 25, followed by Cade Cunningham with 21 points.
This was nice to see from this young team. They got down big at the half, and then regrouped and came back to win the game.
Thunder – 103
Pistons – 112
On Wednesday, the Pistons headed to Boston to take on early season MVP candidate Jayson Tatum and the Celtics.
Just as on Monday, the Pistons found themselves on the receiving end of a slow start. They fell behind by eight after one quarter and down by 14 at halftime. However, there would be no second-half heroics tonight as Boston got 31 from Tatum, 30 from Jaylen Brown, and a career-high 24 from Sam Hauser of the Celtics bench.
Detroit was led by Jaden Ivey who had 19 points and 10 rebounds. The most puzzling line of the night however was Cade Cunningham going just 1 for 11 from the field for 4 points.
Pistons – 112
Celtics – 128
On Friday the Pistons traveled to Madison Square Garden to take on the up-and-down Knicks.
Unfortunately on this night, Detroit caught the Knicks on an up night as RJ Barrett scored 30 and Jalen Brunson added 26 for the Knicks who lead 68-58 at the half.
Detroit got 25 from Bojan Bogdanovic, who returned to form after a few low-scoring games for him. But it was Cory Joseph in the spotlight tonight starting, although he only played five minutes, in place of Cade Cunningham who was held out due to what is being called left shin soreness. Joseph did not do anything.
The Pistons bench kept them in the game to a point, finally coming alive to contribute 51 bench points. However, missing Cade was too much for the young Pistons to handle.
Pistons – 112
Knick – 121
Saturday evening saw the Pistons home at LCA to welcome in the Celtics again.
This is the second game in a row that last year’s first-overall pick Cade Cunningham missed. Killian Hayes got the start in his place and contributed 15 points and 7 assists. Bogdanovic was the leading scorer for the Pistons with 28, as he returned to form after a bad game against the Knicks.
Just like in the previous game between these two teams the night belonged to Jayson Tatum who scored 43, going 7/15 from beyond the arc.
Celtics – 117
Pistons – 108
The Pistons (3-11) may have big problems if Cade continues to miss games. This team has been struggling and to have to play without your superstar in the making might be more than this team can handle.
Also, it has to be said, is it time to start asking the question is Coach Casey’s hot seat on fire at this point, and is it time for Troy Weaver to make a move at head coach?
David Masters