Without Cade, Pistons run out of gas vs. Kings
The Detroit Pistons briefly morphed into the NBA’s best offensive team on Tuesday. And did so without their franchise player.
They couldn’t miss in the first quarter, scoring a season-high 47 points on 76% (19-25) shooting. With just over a minute remaining, they led the visiting Sacramento Kings by 20 points, and were still up 59-40 with just over seven minutes until halftime. Victory appeared imminent.
For a moment, Cade Cunningham’s absence wasn’t at the forefront of everyone’s mind. The 22-year-old will be reevaluated in 7-10 days, the team announced Tuesday morning, with a left knee sprain. Tuesday was their first game, of at least four, without him this season.
Then, it was as though someone flipped a switch.
The Pistons, who turned the ball over just twice in the opening period, committed turnovers on five consecutive possessions. It jumpstarted a dominant 43-9 Kings run that turned a 19-point deficit into a 21-point win in front of Detroit’s home crowd.
The Pistons lost, 131-110, and were outscored 91-51 after the 7:15 mark of the second. They turned the ball over 19 times in the final three quarters, off which Sacramento scored 24 points, and allowed them to shoot 57.4% overall.
They went nearly a full quarter without a field goal, with baskets from Bojan Bogdanovic serving as their last made shot of the second quarter, with 7:56 left, and first made shot of the third, with 9:14 to go. The 10:42 drought is the second-longest of the season by any team, according to Bally Sports Detroit.
Life has already been difficult for the Pistons with Cunningham, who has looked like a star as of late. Without him, they were hapless as Sacramento stomped back and handed them their 34th loss in just 37 games, closing the game with a 30-9 run in in the final 9 minutes after Detroit briefly tied the game at 101.
“There were times where we just couldn’t get into an offense,” head coach Monty Williams said afterward. “Didn’t have the organization that we had in the first. I told the guys, the maturity of this team, one of the steps we have to take is when we get off and start playing well and teams hit us in the mouth and they get physical with us and try to disrupt what we’re trying to do offensively, we have to be able to overcome it. It was a little bit of indecision as to what to do when they took an option away. But then we turned it over again. Think we had six in the second and six in the fourth, I believe. Twenty-one turnovers is still, it’s just a repetitive song.”
Reality hit Detroit hard. Cunningham played at an All-Star level for several weeks before he exited Sunday’s road loss against the Denver Nuggets, averaging 28.7 points, 8.1 assists and 4.4 rebounds while shooting 53.2% overall and 37.3% from 3 in his previous 10 games. Even with that, the Pistons won just one game in the stretch, which snapped a record-tying 28game losing streak.
Though it isn’t reflected in the record, Cunningham’s surge did bring some improvement. The Pistons had the NBA’s sixth-worst net rating in the nine games prior to Sunday at minus-7.5 — still a poor number, but higher than expected for a team on pace to win just seven games this season. Without Cunningham, the Pistons face an even steeper climb as they prepare to host the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday and Houston Rockets on Friday.
Indecision plagued Detroit’s offense late. The team shot 5-for-16 from 3 in the second half after knocking down seven of 10 attempts in the first quarter. Players passed the ball to no one, or lost their dribble in crowds. Cunningham hasn’t been able to lead the team to many wins, but he did give the offense a level of organization that was missing against Sacramento.
No one player on the roster can replace everything Cunningham does for the Pistons, of course, given the many boxes that Cunningham checks. He’s their leading scorer, playmaker and one of the more capable perimeter defenders when he’s locked in.
Detroit’s starting guards, Killian Hayes and Jaden Ivey, were responsible for 10 turnovers. Cunningham had largely cleaned up his own turnover woes after leading the NBA in the category through the first five weeks of the season. The Pistons’ 21 turnovers Tuesday were their highest total since Dec. 21.
“Obviously his ability to playmake for other guys,” Williams said when asked what he’ll miss from his franchise player. “The attention that he gets every single play. The best defender is typically on him every minute he’s on the floor. And then the versatility on defense to switch and rebound. We just have to make up for it in different ways tonight with different guys.”
Williams acknowledged that while Cunningham’s knee strain is likely the result of his heavy minutes, he also said Cunningham will have to improve his conditioning to meet the demands of being a focal point. Entering Tuesday’s game, Cunningham was 14th in the NBA in total minutes played this season with 1240.9, right ahead of Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic.
It’ll be a tricky balance for Williams to find once Cunningham does return. The Pistons have no one else they can reliably lean on to create plays in tough situations — not just for themselves, but for others as well. Cunningham has had to carry a big load. With 45 games remaining, his job will only get tougher from here.
“I’m playing guys way too much for long stretches,” Williams said. “It’s something that I have to look at when he comes back to make sure that he’s not in this situation again. We also understand for us to be the team we’re going to be someday, he’s gotta go through this and build that conditioning and stamina to be able to play these heavy minutes, but maybe not so early in the season.”
Veteran guard Monte Morris healthy, nearing debut
The player perhaps most qualified to run the offense in Cunningham’s stead — veteran guard Monte Morris — isn’t available. But the Flint native, who has been out since training camp with a right quad injury, is finally healthy.
Morris officially began ramping up on Monday, a team spokesman said, and is expected to make his season debut before the end of January. He’ll give the team a skilled shooter and an experienced playmaker, as the 6-foot-2 point guard has averaged 10 points and four assists while shooting 39.2% overall from 3 in his seven-year career. He has never averaged more than a turnover per game for an entire season.
“Monte’s chomping to get on the floor,” Williams said before Tuesday’s game. “This is the first time he’s felt healthy in reference to his leg. We talked the other day, in Denver, he was like ‘This is the first time all my images came back clean. I feel really good.’ Now it’s about ramping up the right way.”