2024-04-01
Cade Cunningham goes off, but Detroit Pistons fall to Jaren Jackson Jr., Memphis Grizzlies
Omari Sankofa II, Detroit Free Press
A late-season contest between two non-playoff bound teams became a duel between the best players on the floor.
Cade Cunningham scored 36 points, with eight assists. Jaren Jackson Jr. had 40 points and seven rebounds for the Memphis Grizzlies. The duo exchanged buckets down the stretch in a close, back-and-forth game.
Ultimately, the Detroit Pistons didn’t prevail, falling to the Grizzlies, 110-108, on Monday night at Little Caesars Arena, after Cunningham’s attempt from midrange at the buzzer missed.
Jackson iced the win for Memphis, knocking down a pair of free throws for a two-point lead before blocking a layup attempt by Cunningham on the other end. Jackson followed with another layup with 2:30 remaining.
A dunk from James Wiseman cut the deficit to two, but Chimezie Metu missed an open 3-pointer in the corner with 36 seconds remaining. An overturned call also hurt Detroit late, as Memphis gained possession of the ball with 1:04 to play after a challenge by head coach Taylor Jenkins.
Jaden Ivey scored 20 points, Metu added 17 and James Wiseman and Tosan Evbuomwan had 10 points each. Former Piston Luke Kennard scored 19 points for Memphis.
The Grizzlies controlled much of the second half after trailing during the entire second quarter, opening an eight-point lead midway through the fourth quarter despite trailing by double-digits at halftime. A fast break 3 by Evan Fournier, assisted by Cunningham, cut Memphis’ lead to 104-101 with just over 4 minutes left. Cunningham followed that with a 3-pointer of his own to tie the game, and followed that with a pair of free throws to tie it again at 106.
The Pistons closed the second half with an 18-5 run, and entered halftime with a 13-point lead after Jackson tied the game at 39 midway through the second period. Cunningham kicked off the run with seven-straight points right after re-entering the game, and his driving dunk a couple of minutes later pushed Detroit’s lead to 55-42 at the 1:18 mark.
Detroit’s lead evaporated in the third. Jackson dominated the quarter, scoring 21 points on 6-for-7 shooting against Detroit’s battered frontcourt, which lost Jalen Duren early in the game with a mouth injury. Memphis took its first lead, 80-78, since midway through the first quarter on a pair of free throws by Jake LaRavia late in the quarter.
The Pistons answered with a 12-2 run, regaining a five-point lead at the end of the third. But the Grizzlies struck again in the final period, opening it with a 19-6 run to give Detroit its biggest deficit of the night, 104-96, with 5:19 on the clock.
With seven games remaining, the Pistons have 13 wins, three shy of tying the franchise record for fewest in a season.
Cunningham stays aggressive
The third-year guard has since returned from a two-game absence last Wednesday. He had 20 of Detroit’s 63 shot attempts, nearly one-third of the total, through three quarters against the Minnesota Timberwolves before sitting most of the fourth in a blowout, and followed that with a season-high 33 attempts in a win over the Washington Wizards Friday.
Monday was Cunningham’s third-consecutive game with at least 30 points, and also his most efficient performance of the three. At halftime, he had 21 points on a sterling 9-for-10 overall clip. He added eight more points in the third, giving him just shy of 30, and helped give Detroit the lead with 2 minutes to play in the quarter by assisting a 3-pointer by Tosan Evbuomwan.
Outside of Cunningham and Metu, the Pistons struggled to hit shots in the second half. Ivey’s 20 points came on 7-for-17 shooting, and Detroit shot 40.5% in the second half after blitzing Memphis at a 62.2% clip in the first.
With just seven games remaining, there are no tangible goals for the Pistons to accomplish other than entering the offseason with some momentum. Cunningham’s strong play is a bright spot in what’s otherwise been a slow crawl to the finish line.
Duren loses tooth, exits game
The Pistons’ already-lengthy injury report grew by one more early in the game, when Duren lost a tooth after colliding with Jackson midway through the opening period. He immediately went to the locker room, and was ruled out at halftime after just five minutes of action.
It left the team with Wiseman and Metu as their lone healthy big men, as Stewart is out for the rest of the season. It’s unclear if the injury will keep Duren out for a period of time. Monty Williams didn’t have an update on the big man after the game. His next opportunity to play will be on the road against the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday.
Next up: Hawks
Matchup: Pistons (13-62) at Atlanta (34-40).
Tipoff: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday; State Farm Arena, Atlanta.
TV/radio: Bally Sports Detroit; WWJ-AM (950).
2024-04-03
Detroit Pistons’ Malachi Flynn erupts for 50 points in loss at Atlanta Hawks, 121-113
Omari Sankofa II, Detroit Free Press
ATLANTA — It was an all-time night for Malachi Flynn, the 29th pick of the 2020 draft who is scrapping to keep his career afloat. His career-high before Wednesday was 27 points. He had 31 before the end of the third quarter, and nearly doubled his previous high.
Flynn, who joined the Detroit Pistons during the flurry of acquisitions at the trade deadline and came off of the bench on Wednesday, finished with 50 points — yes, 50 points — on 18-for-25 overall shooting, 5-for-9 shooting from 3 and 9-for-12 at the line. If only his teammates kept up with him.
Still, the Pistons fell to the Atlanta Hawks on the road, 121-113. The Hawks opened the third quarter with a 20-8 run, pushing a nine-point halftime lead to 22. Beside Flynn, the Pistons struggled to score. Jalen Duren (11 points, 5-for-13) and Marcus Sasser (11 points, 4-for-13) were Detroit’s only other players to reach double-figures in scoring. As a team, the Pistons shot 36.7% in the first half.
The Pistons were without Cade Cunningham, who was a last-minute scratch due to left knee injury management. He was initially listed as “questionable” on the injury report, but the team upgraded him to active and listed him as a starter. He was then ruled out just a few minutes before tip-off.
The Pistons kept battling, though. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Flynn and Sasser early in the fourth brought them within single digits, 94-85, and a pair of free throws by Wiseman cut it to 99-92. Flynn then cut it to five, 104-99, with his fourth 3-pointer of the night with 5:18 remaining.
A 3-pointer by De’Andre Hunter and transition alley-oop dunk off by Clint Cappella off a Pistons turnover, pushed Atlanta’s lead back to 10 with under four minutes left and gave them enough cushion to close out the win. Flynn knocked down a 3-pointer and layup in the final minute, bringing the Pistons within five points once again with 30 seconds to play.
Flynn carries Cunningham-less Pistons
The fourth-year guard has had a steady — and perhaps unappreciated — role since arriving in Detroit at the trade deadline. He’s appeared in 18 of the 25 games he’s been eligible to play for the Pistons, and he’d quietly been in the midst of his best stretch as a scorer this season before Wednesday’s outburst.
Flynn entered the game averaging 11.8 points while shooting 48.8% overall and 39.1% from 3, in 20.4 minutes in his previous five games. That includes a then-season-high 17 points against the New Orleans Pelicans on March 24. Wednesday was different — he matched his season-high in 13 minutes of action.
He entered halftime with 17 points, making five of his eight shot attempts and six of seven free throws. Detroit trailed by nine, 59-50, and likely would’ve been completely out of the game if it weren’t for Flynn. Duren and Jaden Ivey had nine and eight points each, on 7-for-22 combined shooting.
Atlanta’s 20-8 run to open the second half was too much for the Pistons to overcome. Flynn, once again, was Detroit’s only player who could get a bucket. He added 14 more points to his total in the third, and his last buckets of the quarter — a pair of free throws — with 1:04 on the clock capped a 15-3 Pistons run that cut Atlanta’s lead to 89-79.
He then scored seven of Detroit’s first 10 points of the fourth, cutting the Hawks’ lead back to 10, before his final two 3-pointers cut it to five twice in the final 5 minutes.
The Hawks had three players score at least 20: Jalen Johnson had 28 points and 11 rebounds, De’Andre Hunter had 26 points and seven boards and Dejounte Murray added 24 points and 11 assists.
Next up: Grizzlies
Matchup: Pistons (13-63) at Memphis (25-50 entering Wednesday).
Tipoff: 8 p.m. Friday; FedEx Forum, Memphis, Tennessee.
TV/radio: Bally Sports Detroit; WWJ-AM (950).
2024-04-05
Jaden Ivey unable to carry banged-up Detroit Pistons in blowout loss at Memphis Grizzlies
Omari Sankofa II, Detroit Free Press
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The injury report between the two teams was talented enough to make a playoff push.
A total of 19 players sat out of Friday night’s match between the Memphis Grizzlies and Detroit Pistons. Memphis’ list was headlined by Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr., Desmond Bane and Marcus Smart. The Pistons? Cade Cunningham, Isaiah Stewart, Ausar Thompson and Simone Fontecchio.
Even so, one team still managed to dominate. And it wasn’t the Pistons. Despite starting three of their recent first-round picks in Jaden Ivey, Jalen Duren and Marcus Sasser and having a talent advantage on paper, they were blown out of the building.
The Pistons lost, 108-90, and fell to 13-64 overall with five games remaining. They’re still three wins shy of tying the franchise-record for fewest in a season, which was set in 1979-80. Ivey, who finished with 31 points on 10-for-15 shooting, was the one bright spot.
Aside from Ivey, they shot just 22-for-64 (34.4%) overall. Memphis closed the first quarter with a 19-3 run to take a 10-point lead, and ended the first half with a 21-7 run that pushed their lead to 21 by halftime. Detroit turned the ball over 17 times, though Memphis was even worse with 20 turnovers.
Duren tallied a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds, and scored 13 in the final two periods as the team faced blowout margins. The Grizzlies, whose eight-player rotation consisted of four players who arrived on 10-day contracts (Michigan alumnus Zavier Simpson, Trey Jamison, Jordan Goodwin and Maozinha Pereira) and only one player drafted in the first round (Jake LaRavia), shot 46.7% overall and led by at least 16 points during the entire second half.
The Pistons and Grizzlies have both had 31 players enter a game this season, setting a new NBA record.
Ivey’s big night not nearly enough
The second-year guard scored 15 of Detroit’s 22 points in the first quarter, shooting 5-for-6 overall with four 3-pointers. The game turned in Memphis’ favor for good after he checked out, as the Pistons were outscored 13-2 in the final three minutes of the quarter.
Despite his red hot start, Ivey took just two shots in the second quarter — a period that saw the Pistons shoot 5-for-14 overall and 1-for-7 from 3, with seven turnovers. At halftime, Ivey had 20 points, and his teammates were just 7-for-28 overall and 0-for-10 from 3.
Detroit’s road trip will continue with a trip to Brooklyn on Saturday, before facing the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday.