The Detroit Pistons were always in the game against the Phoenix Suns, but nobody was ever able to put their stamp on the game.
The Suns had no such issues, with Kevin Durant scoring 38, including 30 in the second half, and Devin Booker scoring 35 in the 125-121 win over the Pistons.
Cade Cunningham struggled shooting the ball for the second consecutive game, both losses. He was limited to 7-of-26 shooting, scoring 20 points and dishing 11 assists.
With Cade having another off night, it was clear that the Pistons don’t really have anywhere else to turn. Tobias Harris scored 21 points, but he’s not someone who can open up the offense and create for others.
Really, though, this game was won and lost because of the team’s unheralded big men. The Suns’ biggest weakness is at the center position, and this was positioned for Detroit’s duo of Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart to have difference-making nights.
That was not the case.
Duren struggled again on defense and couldn’t do much offensively to offset those shortcomings. Stewart didn’t dominate defensively and had only three points on two shots. The PIstons’ best big man tonight was Paul Reed, who scored six points in seven minutes, while Detroit’s other bigs were in foul trouble. You simply aren’t going to win a game when your two primary bigs aren’t moving the needle and also allowing new Suns backup big Nick Richards to score 21 points, including seven from the free-throw line.
In the end, the Pistons lost the rebounding battle (58-55), and there was just no way Detroit was going to overcome Phoenix on a night when both Durant and Booker had it going, and they couldn’t offset that with the effort, energy, and rebounding to tip the scales in their direction.
Durant struggled early, going 1-of-9 from the floor. Booker picked him up, scoring 23 points in the first half. Durant did the same in the second half, scoring his 30 to seal the game for Phoenix.
They weren’t all easy points, either. They were hitting fadeaway mid-range jumpers with hands in their face. They were breaking down defenders to barrel inside and hit hard layups high off the glass.
Detroit simply didn’t have an answer. They have nobody who can hit hard shots with Jaden Ivey injured and Cade off his game.
When sitting, Cade was wearing a wrap on his legs and spent significant time in the second half getting his hand worked on by a trainer.
With the loss, the Pistons drop to .500. They next play Monday against the Houston Rockets in the first game of a five-game road trip packed with playoff teams.
It feels like that road trip will decide what the PIstons will do at the trade deadline.