2024-03-01
Detroit Pistons buried by 3-point barrage in 110-100 loss to Cavaliers at LCA
Omari Sankofa II, Detroit Free Press
A 40-15 Cleveland Cavaliers run, led by a red hot Darius Garland, buried the Detroit Pistons by the midway point of the third quarter.
The Pistons couldn’t build off of Tuesday’s road win against the Chicago Bulls, falling to the Cavaliers at home, 110-100, on Friday night. The game wasn’t as close as the final score, as Detroit trailed by 26 in the second quarter and by double digits for the majority of the second half before a late rally.
Cade Cunningham led the Pistons with 21 points and 10 assists, and Isaiah Stewart added 16 points and nine rebounds while knocking down four of his seven 3-point attempts. The Pistons shot just 10-36 (27.8%) from 3 while the Cavaliers made 18 of their 41 attempts, a 24-point disparity.
Garland finished with 29 points and knocked down eight of his 12 3-pointers, with six of them falling in his 18-point second quarter. Evan Mobley added 22 points, 17 rebounds and seven assists.
A late 26-14 rally in the fourth period allowed the Pistons to cut it to eight with less than 3 minutes remaining. But it was too late. Garland answered a pair of free throws from Jalen Duren (14 points, 10 rebounds) with a midrange jumper to push Cleveland’s lead back to double-digits.
The Pistons then got within seven, with a Jaden Ivey 3-pointer with 1:22 to go, but Cleveland close the win out with a pair of free throws each from Mobley and Max Strus.
The Cavaliers were without All-NBA guard Donovan Mitchell (left knee soreness) and Michigan alumnus Caris LeVert (right elbow sprain). The Pistons were without Marcus Sasser, who missed his fourth straight game with a right knee contusion.
All-bench unit struggles, again
It’s become a familiar cadence for the Pistons — the starters open the game with competitive energy, only for the opposing team to build a lead against an all-bench unit at the end of the first quarter. Friday’s loss followed the script.
An 11-0 Cavaliers run to open the game was promptly answered by the Pistons’ starters, who tied the game at 14 by making six of eight shot attempts after missing their first five. Detroit initially sustained momentum as the substitutions began, but the game slipped away as Monty Williams went deeper into his bench.
Simone Fontecchio and Quentin Grimes were the first two to check in, for Jaden Ivey and Ausar Thompson. A midrange jumper by Grimes brought the Pistons back within one, 23-22, at the 3:19 mark. Malachi Flynn, Evan Fournier and James Wiseman checked in afterward, joining Fontecchio and Grimes. From there, Cleveland took complete control.
With Mobley still on the floor, the all-reserves lineup got crushed. Cleveland closed the first with a 9-2 run, with Wiseman scoring Detroit’s lone bucket on a dunk following a wraparound pass from Fontecchio. The run extended to 14-2 before Williams re-inserted Cunningham and Ivey early in the second quarter, but Detroit couldn’t find a rhythm on either end.
By the time Garland checked back in at the 8:37 mark, the Pistons trailed by 13. It was then that the game got out of hand, as Garland made six 3-pointers before halftime to push Cleveland’s lead as high as 26.
Through the end of the third quarter, Detroit’s bench had just six points — four from Wiseman, and two from Grimes. The starters closed the first half with an 11-0 run to cut the deficit to 15, and that’s as close as the Pistons would get until a 3-pointer from Thompson cut it to 13 midway through the fourth…
Williams did not go all-bench in the second half, and it was a key reason why Detroit was able to get within 10 points in the final quarter.
Garland’s 3-point barrage
The All-Star guard caught fire in the second period, knocking down six 3-pointers in about a 4-minute stretch. That included four makes in a row to give the Cavaliers their biggest lead of the night, 63-37. As a team, Cleveland made nine of their 16 attempts in the quarter, nearly matching Detroit’s total for the night.
Garland made his seventh and eighth 3-pointers in the third to push Cleveland’s lead back to 23 and help open the third with a 14-4 run.
Another roster move
After the game, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the Pistons and guard Shake Milton have agreed to a contract buyout. The agreement comes on the day players must be free agents in order sign with another and be eligible for the playoffs.
Milton, who joined the Pistons in the Monte Morris trade last month, has not played in the last four games. The six-year veteran averaged 6.8 points in four games in Detroit, playing just under 16 minutes per game. He did not play heavy minutes with Minnesota before this season’s trade.
2024-03-03
Monty Williams alters rotation with mixed results in Detroit Pistons 113-91 loss to Magic
Omari Sankofa II, Detroit Free Press
ORLANDO, Fla. — Forty-eight minutes of dreadful defense — coupled with a dreadful start to the third period — cost the Detroit Pistons on the road on Sunday.
The Orlando Magic blew out the Pistons, 113-91, at Kia Center. It was the Pistons’ (9-51 overall) second-straight loss after picking up a win over the Chicago Bulls on the road last Tuesday. With the loss, they have tied the Wizards for the NBA’s worst record.
The Pistons missed 12 of their first 13 shots in the third quarter as the Magic opened the period with a 20-3 run, clinching the blowout win with more than 18 minutes of basketball remaining. Detroit didn’t make its first field goal of the quarter until Ausar Thompson made a layup with 7:35 on the clock. Their second field goal wasn’t until three minutes later, with a James Wiseman layup.
The Magic shot 59.7% overall and bullied the Pistons all night, finishing with 68 points in the paint. Paolo Banchero led all players with 29 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Five Pistons reached double figures, led by Evan Fournier’s 17 points. Simone Fontecchio scored 15. Jalen Duren finished with 11, Cade Cunningham had nine and Jaden Ivey had 10.
Williams stuck with his second unit for most of the second half and found success doing so as the bench led a rally to trim a 26-point deficit to 13 early in the fourth. But beyond poor defense, Detroit was also undone by poor shooting. They made just 38.4% of their attempts overall and eight of their 36 attempts from 3, a 22.2% clip.
Marcus Sasser returned from a four-game absence and finished with three points on 1-for-7 shooting. Quentin Grimes missed the game with right knee soreness.
Williams alters rotation with mixed results
After Detroit’s second unit struggled yet again in a loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday, Williams acknowledged a need to alter his rotation to help the bench sustain momentum. He frequently goes five-deep into his bench in first quarters, and the all-bench units have surrendered leads. On Sunday, he made changes.
Williams followed through on his idea of staggering Isaiah Stewart and Duren and playing the former at center more frequently. Fontecchio subbed in for Stewart midway through the first, and Evan Fournier came in for Ivey not long after. Stewart re-entered the game with 3 minutes left, subbing in for Duren alongside Sasser, Fournier, Fontecchio, and Thompson.
At no point in the first half did Williams go with a lineup consisting of five bench players. The Pistons went the final 3 minutes of the first quarter with Cunningham and Ivey both on the bench, but Ivey entered the game to start the second period. Duren came back in for Stewart at the 7:01 mark, and Cunningham also subbed in to join Ivey. Malachi Flynn didn’t play at all.
The rotation changes appeared to help the Pistons at first. Williams went nine-deep in the first half, and Detroit shook off a slow start to take the lead, 27-25, toward the end of the first. The game flipped toward Orlando’s favor midway through the second quarter, though, closing it with a 20-12 run against Detroit’s starters to enter halftime with a nine-point lead.
The Magic proceeded to build a 26-plus point lead, 79-53, midway through the third, prompting more rotation changes by Williams. Wiseman checked into the game for the first time toward the end of the third quarter, and a mostly bench lineup consisting of Wiseman, Sasser, Fournier, Fontecchio, and Thompson whittled the deficit to 18 at the end of the period.
Williams then went all-bench to start the fourth, with Troy Brown Jr. replacing Thompson in the lineup. That group cut the deficit to 13, as Fournier hit a 3 and Wiseman finished a pair of dunks to bring Orlando’s lead down to 93-80 with 9:07 remaining in the game. The Magic proceeded to pull away, but Detroit’s bench ultimately outplayed the starting lineup Sunday night.
Next up: Heat
Matchup: Pistons (9-51) at Miami (34-26).
Tipoff: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday; Kaseya Center, Miami.
TV/radio: Bally Sports Detroit; WXYT-FM (97.1).