Detroit — Was this going to be a re-run, NBA style?
Pistons rookie guard Cade Cunningham takes on powerful team from the East and ignores whatever might be ailing him to put on a scoring show that . . . falls just short.
That’s what happened when he matched his season-high two nights prior in a seven-point loss at Brooklyn.
Thursday night at Little Casears Arena against Philadelphia, Cunningham got 27 points to hold his own against scoring beasts Joel Embiid (37 points, 15 rebounds) and James Harden (18 points, nine rebounds).
And Detroit came out on top, 102-94, as Cunningham got plenty of help from his teammates.
“It was a complete 48 (minutes),” said Pistons coach Dwane Casey. “And that’s something we’ve been preaching all year. You could see the growth in the players’ decisions…Everyone who played contributed.
BOX SCORE: Pistons 102, 76ers 94
“They didn’t come out in the second and third quarters and punch us in the mouth. We matched their intensity. The consistent production all throughout four quarters on the offensive end and defensive end is what we’re looking for.”
Rookie forward Isaiah Livers, in his first action after missing four games following suffering a concussion, was a blanket on defense (even against 7-footer Embiid, who has five inches on him) and hit three big treys to score nine.
None was bigger than the 3-pointer he drained from up top for a 90-87 lead.
Saddiq Bey (20 points) followed that up with a trey from the corner for his 200th triple of the year.
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“They were very timely,” Casey said of those momentum-shifting 3-pointers by Livers and Bey.
The fans went completely and totally bonkers. The Pistons fed off that and quickly pushed the lead to double-digits, as high as 13, breaking a three-game losing streak against a formidable foe now 46-30.
Cunningham has played with grit all season, but the way he’s played over pain the last two games is something truly special.
He bruised his tailbone hitting the floor in the first quarter Tuesday night at Brooklyn, and returned to score 29 of the 34 points. Afterward, Cunningham told reporters that moving around allowed him to stay loose, but sitting or being stationary was when the stiffness occurred.
Casey said after Wednesday’s light practice, during which Cunningham took part, that the soreness sets in the day after such injuries. But he expected his rookie star to play Thursday.
“Cade is not 100 percent,” Casey said. “I thought he played through a lot of pain in his back.”
And did he ever play – almost as if nothing was bothering him.
Cunningham glided in to the right of the basket for an under-handed scoop shot. Then he pulled up in the lane for an easy short jumper, gaining space out of the respect he demands with his effective drives.
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He reversed field well, too, circling in from the right to attack the rim from the left, for a left-handed scoop shot. He looked like water bug on hardwood, gracefully making his way to two points.
Then he spun in the air before shooting in one motion. Swish!
Right-hand drop shot off the glass followed by an open pull-up jumper (How did Philly totally lose him?) that got him to 20 points midway through the third quarter.
“The young man’s growing,” said Casey. “He knows how to score with the ball. They double-team him and he did a great job of passing out of the double-teams (with six assists). He did a great job of attacking the rim, taking the shots.
“Just can’t say enough about him as a player and the decisions he’s making. But that’s growth. From the beginning of the season to now, he’s a different man…Every game, he shows you something new.”
Pistons forward Marvin Bagley III also played through plenty of pain.
He was fouled hard by Embiid while attempting to throw down a violent slam dunk in the third quarter, hit the court hard, and didn’t get up right away. Teammate Killian Hayes waved in the team trainers, and that’s usually the foreshadowing of something bad.
When Bagley got up, he walked slowly to bench, grimacing several times, before sitting down. But then he got up to shoot the free throws—making one of two – and stayed in the game.
Bagley finished with eight points and eight rebounds.
He did connect earlier on a powerful two-hand slam when Cunningham got him the ball at the rim, and he stormed past two defenders and was fouled by Embiid. He didn’t make the free throw.
Bagley was limited to 24:27 on the court.
“He’s going to have people look at it tomorrow,” Casey said of the lower body injury. “I doubt he’s going to play (Friday night) in OKC.”
Bagley is replacing leading scorer Jerami Grant, who has been ruled out for the rest of the season with a left calf strain. Recently-signed Braxton Key (six points, four rebounds in 16:21) should see added playing time at the power forward spot, while others such as Bey will get minutes there, too.
Slam dunks
Bey entered Thursday night’s game three shy of 200 3-pointers, and got four on 12 attempts. He already set Detroit’s single-season record and has at least one in 51 consecutive games. That’s another record, surpassing Jerami Grant’s 49 straight, Dec. 23, 2020 to April 14, 2021.
The Pistons have been a team of streaks. They had an eight-game losing streak before going on a 6-2 run (Feb. 16 to March 3), and entered the game with Philadelphia on a 2-9 slide before beating the Sixers.
Steve Kornacki is a freelance writer.
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