Facing a win-and-get-in scenario to reach the NBA Cup quarterfinals, the Detroit Pistons were unable to close out.
They fell, 112-109, to the Orlando Magic at Little Caesars Arena on Friday, Nov. 28,, for their second straight loss. The Magic clinched East Group B in the NBA Cup. The Pistons (15-4) have lost two straight after tying a franchise record with 13 wins in a row and instead will have two more regular-season games scheduled in lieu of the in-season tournament.
Despite the loss, it was another big night for Cade Cunningham, who tallied his second triple-double of the season with 39 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists. He took over late, scoring 21 points in the second half and nine points in the final quarter, but it wasn’t enough.
Down 110-109 with 44 seconds remaining, the Pistons gave up four offensive rebounds on one possession by the Magic, costing them an opportunity to win. With 6.3 seconds left, the Magic secured the fourth rebound and Jalen Suggs made two free throws to virtually clinch the game.
“I think we did play good defense on the ball,” Cunningham said after the loss. “Had us scrambling around a lot to try to contain it and try to get a stop. Shooting deep 3s, the ball can bounce anywhere. Maybe a couple of them just didn’t bounce our way. We all like to believe we should’ve found a way to sell out and go get that ball. Just tough.
“That’s our identity, that’s what we hang our hat on is the toughness and going and making those dirty plays and finding loose balls and stuff like that. We’re all feeling the sting from that and we’ll be better.”
Cunningham missed the first of two free throws with 4 seconds to play, and though he recovered the rebound after intentionally missing the second free throw, Duncan Robinson’s ensuing game-tying 3-point attempt was blocked by Anthony Black.
Tobias Harris scored 18 points, and Jalen Duren added 16 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks. The Pistons held the Magic to 41.2% shooting, including 16.7% from 3 (5-for-30), but committed 24 turnovers, off which Orlando scored 27 points. Desmond Bane led the Magic with 37 points.
“Twenty-four turnovers is hard to overcome,” coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “The time that they came and how they were coming that led to one of the best fastbreak teams in our league right now, that’s hard to overcome. We put ourselves in position. Couldn’t come up with the ball on the final possession there. But our guys battled and gave themselves a chance down the stretch.”
The Pistons’ two regular-season games to be added to the schedule will be played on either Dec. 11-12 and Dec. 13-14. Before then, however, the Pistons are off to Miami to face the Heat on Saturday night (8 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network Detroit Extra).
Cade Cunningham carries offense down stretch
Two nights after a 42-point effort from Cunningham wasn’t enough in a road loss to the Boston Celtics, the Pistons’ offense once again struggled to make shots when the superstar guard wasn’t the one shooting.
He was responsible for 12 of their 26 points in the third quarter as they gave up a 17-6 run toward the end of the period to face their biggest deficit up to that point, 89-82, with 33 seconds on the clock.
The Pistons’ offense slowed almost to a halt through the first half of the final period. They didn’t make a field goal until the 7:23 mark of the fourth, but were only outscored 6-1 in that span due to their defense. Down the stretch, Cunningham led the way as the Pistons erased a 10-point deficit.
Down 100-90, Cunningham capped a 10-0 Pistons run with a pull-up 3-pointer to tie the game with 4:11 remaining. From there, it was a series of highlights for Cunningham – a pair of free throws to cut it to one, and then an alley-oop to Duren to give them their first lead of the quarter, 104-103, at the 3:20 mark. With 1:32 to play, Cunningham drove and kicked out to Harris for a 3-pointer to bring them within one again, 110-109.
As the team has gotten healthier, Bickerstaff has expanded and altered his rotation to give players an opportunity. He went 12-deep on Friday, but three players – Ron Holland, Paul Reed and Daniss Jenkins – played fewer than 10 minutes. The Pistons were down 10 when Cunningham checked in at the 9:25 mark of the final period.
The unit that started the quarter – Reed, Harris, Robinson, Jaden Ivey and Ausar Thompson – missed two shots, committed two turnovers and split a trip at the line before Cunningham returned. It was Ivey’s fourth game since he made his season debut against the Milwaukee Bucks last Saturday, and he finished with three points in 10 minutes of action.
“It’s kind of a work in progress there with bringing guys back, who’s going to play in those minutes when Cade is out of the game and then figuring out the offensive identity of that group and how we can continue to play faster but we can move teams around,” Bickerstaff said. “Our stops have to help us so we can get out and run because that group should be pretty athletic and pretty fast. We’re working on it and guys will get more comfortable in their roles, and guys will get more comfortable in our rotations.”
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