2023-11-17

[Omari Sankofa II, Detroit Free Press] Despite lineup shuffle, Detroit Pistons’ skid hits 10 with 108-100 loss to Cleveland

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CLEVELAND — Call it an imperfect 10.

The Detroit Pistons’ losing streak reached double digits Friday night with a 108-100 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, who closed the first quarter with a 19-4 run and led by double digits early in the second quarter thanks to hot shooting and Detroit’s ongoing issues with taking care of the ball.

The Pistons (2-11) committed 17 turnovers — their 13th time in 13 games with at least 16 giveaways. They were also doomed by poor shooting, finishing the night just 9-for-35 on 3-pointers. Cleveland shot 55.6% overall and hit six of 14 3s in the first half, overcoming a 26-16 rebounding deficit.

Cade Cunningham led the Pistons with 20 points, eight assists and five rebounds. Kevin Knox, who replaced Marvin Bagley III in the starting lineup, tallied a double-double (11 points and 11 rebounds), as did Isaiah Stewart (11 points, 10 rebounds).

Rookie Ausar Thompson finished with nine points and 10 rebounds, but turned the ball over five times. He played just 1:30 in the second half. Jaden Ivey scored 11 points, but finished with six turnovers.

The Cavs were without All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell, but Darius Garland stepped up with 28 points in his absence.

Cleveland guard Craig Porter Jr., who’s on a two-way contract, hit a midrange jumper with just under 10 minutes before the half to extend Cleveland’s lead to 12, 42-30. At that point, the Cavs had knocked down 17 of their first 23 shots. Their lead reached a game-high of 16, 57-41, with 1:18 left in the second when a bad lob from Thompson to Knox led to an open dunk for Jarrett Allen on the other end.

Detroit rallied in the third after finding its touch from outside, cutting the deficit to four with a layup from Knox at the 3:48 mark. It capped a 24-14 run for the Pistons, who trailed by double digits once again early in the fourth after turning the ball over on consecutive possessions, slowing their third-quarter momentum.

New starting five doesn’t pay off

First-year head coach Monty Williams hinted Thursday that a lineup change would be imminent. Many issues have plagued the Pistons during their losing streak, but there are two that are most prominent: They’ve turned the ball over at one of the NBA’s highest rates, and the starting lineup has had cramped spacing.

“I have to do a better job of allowing (Cunningham) to play in more space,” Williams said. “Think I gotta change up the combinations with him on the floor so the paint isn’t as crowded. I think that’s going to free him up to see a lot more clearly, if you will.”

He attempted to address both problems by inserting Knox, who has been with the team for just over a week. Knox earned the coaching staff’s trust after a strong debut against the Chicago Bulls on Sunday, when he knocked down all four of his 3-pointers and hustled on defense.

It didn’t pay off against Cleveland, though. The Pistons missed their first six 3s before Cunningham finally got one to fall midway through the first. They made just one more before halftime, finishing the second period 2-for-12 from downtown. Many of their attempts were open — they just couldn’t hit.

Detroit also struggled with turnovers, tallying 13 during the first half. It was the usual mix of misplaced and telegraphed passes and loose handles being picked off. Three players — Thompson (5), Cunningham (4) and Ivey (3) — were responsible for the majority, and the Cavaliers scored 18 points off them.

The Pistons weren’t nearly as bad in the third quarter, cutting a 14-point halftime deficit to seven at the end of the period. They hit six of their first 10 3-pointers, cutting the lead to six at the 4:35 mark. But more importantly, they didn’t turn the ball over once in the period.

They couldn’t sustain it, though, missing six of their seven attempts from beyond the arc in the fourth as the Cavaliers pulled away. A dunk by Evan Mobley pushed Cleveland’s lead to 16 once again with 1:37 to play, after which Williams subbed out Cunningham, Stewart and Alec Burks for the rest of the night.