The Detroit Pistons have shown significant improvement after enduring the worst season in franchise history. Still. they have difficulty stringing two wins together.
They will look to do that for the fourth time this season on Thursday when they host the Utah Jazz.
Detroit is coming off an entertaining 125-124 overtime victory against Miami. The Pistons blew a 19-point, fourth-quarter lead and trailed by eight in the extra session. Tim Hardaway Jr. rescued the Pistons with three consecutive 3-pointers and Cade Cunningham scored their last basket.
Cunningham has been playing at an All-Star level but the Pistons have only won consecutive games twice this season. Last season, any victory seemed like an anomaly.
Detroit finished with a franchise-worst 14-68 record. The Pistons only need three more victories this season to match that total.
“We’ve got a bunch of tough-minded guys, a bunch of guys that are hungry,” Cunningham said. “I think that’s what makes it so fun to play with this group. Coach (J.B. Bickerstaff), he’s the same way. He’s hungry, he’s tough-minded, and he instills that in us. We’re playing hard for him. We’ve got a long way to go. But I like the way we’ve started.”
Cunningham is averaging 23.5 points, 9.7 assists and 7.5 rebounds. In five games this month, he’s averaged 23.4 assists.
“He’s got a high understanding of what the game needs, moment to moment, and how the teams are defending him,” Bickerstaff said. “He’s far and above his age and experience in understanding what the opponents are trying to take away, and what they’re trying to do, and how he can exploit that.”
The Pistons have some injury concerns. Starters Tobias Harris (thumb) and Jaden Ivey (knee) missed Monday’s game and key reserve Isaiah Stewart (knee) didn’t play in the second half.
Utah’s season is starting to resemble what Detroit went through last season. The Jazz have lost 12 of their past 14 games and have the second-worst record in the Western Conference (5-20).
Their defense has been shredded during their current three-game skid. Utah gave up 141 points to Sacramento, 134 to Phoenix and 144 to the Los Angeles Clippers. The Clippers jumped to a 24-point lead in the opening quarter.
“We got our butts kicked,” Jazz head coach Will Hardy said after the latest debacle. “The game was really decided in the first quarter, is what it comes down to. But, you know, the message to the team in a moment like this is that we all get judged a lot, but we ultimately are going to get judged the most by how we act when it doesn’t go our way.”
Hardy expects his team to show more pride on Thursday.
“That’s going to be one of those games where I’m probably not going to have to say very much before the game,” he said. “The guys know, they feel it. They’re all highly competitive, and so they’re frustrated in this moment.”
Getting leading scorer Lauri Markkanen back on track will also be key for the Jazz. He’s reached the 20-point mark just once in the last seven games.
–Field Level Media