The Detroit Pistons couldn’t lock in on defense or contain Steph Curry, who scored Golden State’s final 11 points, eventually falling 113-109.
Cade Cunningham dominated the game, getting anything he wanted against the Golden State Warriors. He had almost single-handedly brought the Pistons back from an 11-point deficit in five minutes. In that span, Cade scored or assisted on 13 of Detroit’s 19 points in that span.
The Warriors called timeout after Bojan Bogdanovic drained his first 3-pointer of the night to put the Pistons up 103-102 with 1:41 remaining. Then Steph Curry remembered he was Steph Curry, and the Pistons were cruelly reminded they were the Detroit Pistons.
Curry scored nearly every time he touched the ball. First, he coaxed a foul to put the Warriors back up one. Then he hit consecutive threes to put the game away, adding a few free-throws for padding.
Meanwhile, the Pistons saw Jaden Ivey attempt an ill-advised kickout after drawing defenders, which led to a turnover. Bogdanovic, who struggled mightily on both ends all night, declined a 3-pointer and opted instead to drive the ball into the teeth of the defense and got a layup blocked. Ivey then missed another and Alec Burks also missed a trey.
If you’ll notice, nowhere in the above summary did you see the name Cade Cunningham. That is because he didn’t attempt a shot after the Pistons took the lead until a garbage-time layup with two seconds remaining.
Cunningham shot 9-of-11 from the field in the second half and was carving up the Warriors defense. He did most of his damage by patiently and methodically driving inside for clean looks or nice assists. He finished with his sixth 30-point game in his past seven contests.
But the Pistons couldn’t manage to get him a look to end the game.
Going a bit cold on offense would be understandable if the Pistons had any hope of fielding a competent defense or limiting their opponents to one look at the basket. Instead, the Pistons were committing dumb fouls, blowing rotations, and not boxing out.
The game was ripe for the taking with the Warriors struggling, they were playing on a back-to-back, and having cold nights from Klay Thompson (6-of-18) and until the very end, Steph Curry, who finished 7-of-19 from the floor. The Warriors were also without Chris Paul for most of the second half after jamming his thumb.
But the Pistons were outrebounded 56-48, they allowed the Warriors to go to the charity stripe 25 times, turning into 25 points, while Detroit was limited to an 8-of-10 night. The Pistons also were easily outpaced in second-chance points 21 to 10.
These are the hallmarks of this losing team and this losing season. They will keep happening until that promised change finally comes. Hopefully by the time that actually occurs, Cade won’t have been ground into dust by how much is on his shoulders.