The Detroit Pistons have officially been eliminated from the NBA Cup Tournament after a 112-019 loss to the Orlando Magic. Detroit needed a victory in the matchup to remain in the tournament. However, Wednesday night's loss to the Boston Celtics and Friday's loss took them out of contention.
The standout performance of All-Star point guard Cade Cunningham kept the Pistons in the game all night. Cunningham finished with his second triple-double of the season, recording 39 points, 13 rebounds, and 11 assists. Detroit let some late opportunities to win slip away due to critical errors. Cunningham spoke to the media after the game about the feeling of the team's mistakes in the final period,” Cunningham said.
“It was good for us. It’s always great to have the city come out like that. In the locker room, we’re all upset with ourselves, the fact we didn’t get this win. But we love to have our fans continue to come out like that, continue to support us like that, and we’ll be better moving forward.”
Forward Tobias Harris cut the Magic's lead down to one point with a late triple in the fourth quarter. Detroit forced three misses by Orlando but allowed three consecutive offensive rebounds, negating their defensive stops. Magic guard Jalen Suggs went to the free-throw line and knocked down two free throws, which extended their lead to three.
Cunningham was fouled on the next possession and had a pair of free throws to trim the deficit down. He missed the first free-throw, then intentionally missed the second and grabbed the offensive rebound. Cunningham kicked the ball out to Duncan Robinson for a 3, but it was blocked by the Magic to end the game.
The Pistons struggled with their offensive output as a team. Harris finished the night with 18 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the field. Center Jalen Duren put up 16 points, 12 rebounds, and four blocked shots.
The Pistons' 12-man rotations continue
During the Pistons' 13-game winning streak, head coach J.B. Bickerstaff stated he wanted to open up possibilities by playing more guys in his rotation. Bickerstaff stated he believed the team had played well enough to figure out proper rotations by playing more guys than normal. He ended up playing 12 Pistons against the Magic throughout the night. Bickerstaff opened up on how he believes the team is adjusting to the rotation changes.
“It’s obviously kind of a work in progress there. We’re bringing guys back, and who’s going to play in those minutes when Cade (Cunningham) is out of the game, and then figuring out the offensive identity of that group and how we can continue to play faster, but we can move teams around,” Bickerstaff explained.
“Our stops have to help us so we can get out and run, because that group should be pretty athletic and pretty fast. So, we’re working on it. Guys will get more comfortable in their roles. We’ll get more comfortable in our rotations.”
The Pistons have opened their lineups up more since the return of shooting guard Jaden Ivey. Prior to Ivey's return, the Pistons were benefiting from solid production from role players off the bench like Daniss Jenkins, Javonte Green, Paul Reed, and others. Bickerstaff did not elaborate on when he would look to officially cut the rotations down, but stated he would stay patient in making that decision.
