Cade Cunningham’s fifth 30-point outing of the season played a pivotal role as the Detroit Pistons reached .500 for the first time after New Year’s Day since 2019 with a nailbiting 118-115 win over the Portland Trail Blazers, whose head coach and former Detroit point guard Chauncey Billups endured mixed emotions on his latest return to The Motor City in their cross-conference clash.
Statistic shows just how far Detroit have come
WHEN healthy, Cade Cunningham has been doing his bit to help Detroit steer the ship towards consistency after being deemed a losing ball club over the past half-decade and J.B. Bickerstaff’s side took a big step in the right direction after a hard-fought win over the Trail Blazers, themselves rebuilding in a post-Damian Lillard era.
Blake Griffin was their leading scorer that season, averaging 24.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 5.4 assists as he won All-Star honours before being named to the All-NBA third team too. Andre Drummond and Reggie Jackson were both key cogs in the rotation too – Drummond has bounced around the league since while Jackson is now a teammate of the big man again in Philadelphia, where both feature in reserve roles.
It feels fitting that, on the eve of his first All-Star selection, the 23-year-old mirrors now-retired six-time All-Star forward Griffin as Detroit’s poster boy as they look to bridge the gap to NBA title contenders out East and establish themselves as more than the sum of their parts – much like New York and Indiana have done recently.
The last time they were .500 (an even win/loss record) after New Year’s Day came under Dwane Casey’s stewardship in the 2018-19 season with a 41-41 regular season record, where Griffin played through knee injuries to take them into the postseason before they were swept by Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks.
Detroit have won seven of their last eight and this recovery victory would’ve felt sweeter, having been down by 22 points with 8:45 remaining in the first-half.
Anfernee Simons drained eight three-pointers as the guard posted a 36-point, nine-assist night while Shaedon Sharpe had 20/8/8 and all five Blazers starters were into double-digit scoring. Deandre Ayton posted a double-double (18 pts, 11 rebs), as did his opposite number Jalen Duren (14 pts, 12 rebs).
Tim Hardaway Jr picked the right night to produce a season-high 26 points (10-of-15 shooting) while Malik Beasley (1-of-10) struggled from the floor, his only field goal a three-pointer to put them up four with 53.2 seconds remaining. Simons assisted Ayton on an alley-oop dunk four seconds later, though Duren’s putback dunk from a Cunningham miss created separation the Blazers couldn’t close fast enough.
As for what’s next, Detroit look to continue their impressive form of late away in Brooklyn midweek while Portland have an away trip of their own against their former mainstay CJ McCollum and the New Orleans Pelicans the same night.
Picture source: Getty Images
Mo and Sports 