notching their second win against Detroit in just under two weeks<\/a>. Rather than hanging their heads, the Pistons were collectively optimistic they\u2019d grow from the loss and be better after dissecting the film.<\/p>\nThe Spurs deployed myriad defensive coverages against Cade Cunningham in the two matchups, and their objective of neutralizing him was clear. Stephon Castle has been Cunningham\u2019s primary defender, responsible for picking him up for a full 94 feet. Anytime Cunningham looked to get downhill on screen-and-roll actions, San Antonio was there to trap him.<\/p>\n
At one point on Thursday, he was even doubled before he hit half court.<\/p>\n
Detroit has emphasized all season that it wants to peak at the right time, and this loss could actually help that. When the postseason arrives, teams will undoubtedly plan to pack the paint on Cunningham, be physical with him and try to force his teammates to beat them. San Antonio\u2019s 104.7 defensive rating is the best in the NBA during the last 10 games and ranks third on the season at 110.0.<\/p>\n
If the Pistons can take the small sample size the Spurs have provided during these two matchups and find ways to alleviate pressure off Cunningham, that could bode well for Detroit\u2019s playoff chances.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen he gets off (the ball), we\u2019ve got to get into the next action and be decisive in what we\u2019re doing,\u201d Jalen Duren told The Athletic. \u201cBecause usually when he draws two bodies, sometimes even three, it becomes an advantage. It should be an advantage for us. You\u2019ve just got to capitalize on those moments.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not the first time this year teams have doubled him and were throwing bodies at him. But we\u2019ve got to be better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cunningham shot a combined 15-of-52 from the field against the San Antonio while averaging 21 points, 9.0 assists, 5.0 rebounds, 1.5 blocks, 1.0 steals and 3.5 turnovers. He finished with 26 points on 10-of-26 shooting Thursday. Each of Cunningham\u2019s four turnovers came when he had at least two Spurs defenders in his vicinity.<\/p>\n
Ausar Thompson is the Pistons\u2019 second-most effective offensive initiator after Cunningham. Not only does Thompson provide arguably the best point-of-attack defense in the association, he also allows Cunningham the freedom to operate out of off-ball actions that typically negate defenses\u2019 ability to load up on him.<\/p>\n
\u201cTeams are going to pick me up (full court), and I\u2019ve got to get turned and worked from 94 feet,\u201d Cunningham said when asked how off-ball actions change the way he\u2019s defended. \u201cIt\u2019s just more wear and extra effort. But being able to start on the other end, get the ball in my spot and have a live dribble to go, it\u2019s definitely less load and a little bit easier for me.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut it\u2019s just about reading what they\u2019re doing and countering that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thompson left with a right ankle sprain two minutes into Thursday\u2019s game. It also didn\u2019t help that Duren picked up four fouls in eight first-half minutes. Ron Holland II also exited with a left eye injury after just 12 minutes.<\/p>\n
Isaiah Stewart, who had 18 points and shot 3-of-5 from 3, was asked how Detroit can free Cunningham up offensively.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s always ways,\u201d Stewart said. \u201cWe walk away, we watch the film and we learn a lot. I think the beauty of it is, we came from the bottom. We\u2019re still working our way up top, and we\u2019re not a finished product. We\u2019re still learning, and that\u2019s the beauty of it.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo we\u2019ll continue to look at the film and find ways we can help him when he\u2019s getting doubled and try to continue to propel ourselves forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
One bright spot for Cunningham was his 3-point shooting. He was 4 of 7 from long range and looked especially comfortable on his pull-up triples. Though Cunningham is shooting 33.4 percent from distance this season, he\u2019s shooting 35.4 percent on pull-up triples. The uptick is marginal, but off-ball actions could allow Cunningham to conserve energy and be even more potent on off-the-dribble 3s.<\/p>\n
Kevin Huerter provided a bright spot for Detroit with Thompson and Holland out. He contributed seven points, five rebounds, two assists and a steal in 17 minutes while being a team-high plus-15. Huerter is still trying to identify his role since being acquired in a three-team trade last month, and Thursday\u2019s performance could earn him more minutes. Considering he\u2019s a career 37 percent 3-point shooter, he could potentially be an option to help space the floor for Cunningham if he finds his rhythm.<\/p>\n
But San Antonio (45-17), the current No. 2 seed in the Western Conference, would be a difficult defensive matchup for the Pistons \u2014 or anybody \u2014 in the playoffs. Victor Wembanyama, the leading candidate for Defensive Player of the Year, had five blocks on Thursday to go along with his 38 points and 16 rebounds. His defensive prowess at the rim deters opponents from even attempting shots, and the Spurs\u2019 collection of perimeter defenders like Castle, De\u2019Aaron Fox and Carter Bryant allows them to stifle Cunningham in ways other teams can\u2019t.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re a good defensive team,\u201d Detroit coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. \u201cThey have a lot of guys who can get up in you, put pressure on you and then trust the fact that they\u2019ve got (Wembanyama) behind them to protect them. So, of course, there\u2019s things we can do better. I take responsibility, always, for that. It\u2019s my responsibility to help create space, create opportunities for (Cunningham).\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN ANTONIO \u2014 Inside the visiting locker room at Frost Bank Center on Thursday night, there was no…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":193336,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[6392,82,84,83],"class_list":["post-193335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-antonio","tag-detroit-pistons","tag-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio-headlines","tag-san-antonio-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193335","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=193335"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193335\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/193336"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=193335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=193335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=193335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}