=======
They had a chance. More than a chance −and collapsed when the chance got real.
Saturday night at the Garden? Fourth quarter lead? Nervous celebrities sitting courtside?
==========
So, yeah, that stung. There’s no hiding from that. But then playoff losses always sting. It’s just been a while since you’ve felt that.
Six years, to be exact, though that Pistons team didn’t inspire much expectation … if any at all. This playoff team does. Or at least inspires hope.
=======
Not all about Cade
The last word is key. The Pistons played well for three quarters, then couldn’t inbound the ball to start the fourth. And couldn’t get a shot up on the next possession. And couldn’t stop fouling and turning it over.
Cunningham had six in the game. His worst game in six weeks. Going 8-for-21 from the field? That’ll happen. Everyone misses shots – even Michael Jordan.
As Bickerstaff noted, it’s not always about Cunningham’s point tally. But it is about the turnovers when he has a game like Saturday night. Like he said, his job is to read the defense and make sure someone gets a shot up.
For stretches, he did that well. He finished with 12 assists, and the fear he inspired in New York’s coaching staff – it sent doubles his way most of the night – shifted the defense away from Detroit’s shooters.
Cunningham has gravity. Malik Beasley, Tim Hardaway Jr and Tobias Harris don’t get all those open shots – and combine to score 64 points − without it. So, let’s not overreact to his performance. This was his first playoff game.
Still, the Pistons aren’t beating the Knicks unless he is better, and learns, and plays the way he’s played for so much of this season. The same could be said for Jalen Duren and Ausar Thompson and even Ron Holland.
All three had moments. All three can be better in their roles, and will have to be, because the Pistons probably aren’t getting 13 3-pointers a game from Beasley, Hardaway Jr. and Harris.
Then again, they might, at least for another game or two, and if they do shoot as well as they did in Game 1, the youngsters have to be ready to balance everything else out.
NBA playoffs 101
That starts with film today. After that? Shaking off the worst quarter in a while. Game 2 will be here in a hurry. As Harris said, “the playoffs are about making adjustments and being ready for the next night.”