Pistons Beat Pacers For Third Win In A Row
The Pistons aren't exactly helping themselves by winning games these days, but don't tell that to the players. And honestly, Dwane Casey and his staff aren't trying super hard to win either, it just keeps happening. At least for the last three games it has. Today, it was a 121-117 win over the Indiana Pacers.
Today in Indianapolis, several key Pistons were out. Starters Cade Cunningham, Cory Joseph and Jerami Grant missed the game as did key reserves Hamidou Diallo and Marvin Bagley III. One starter, however, showed up in a massive way. Saddiq Bey had 18 points in the first quarter almost before you could blink. He connected on his first six three-pointers and finished with 31 points to lead all scorers.
To fill out the rest of the roster, the Pistons signed point guard Carsen Edwards out of the G League and he showed up only about two hours before the game tipped. Not only did he show up, he played 30 minutes, scored 13 points and dished out nine assists. To say he had impressed during his Pistons debut would be a massive understatement.
Frank Jackson, Killian Hayes, Braxton Key and Rodney McGruder might not be household names, but they all scored in double figures today to help Detroit get the win. Again, winning isn't necessarily in Detroit's best interest as the season comes to a close, but scrapping, battling and coming out victorious is really healthy for a young, developing team.
Not only are the Pistons fighting and scrapping, they're actually pretty fun to watch. Today they knocked down 21 three-pointers, and when they have their full compliment of players, they play some really entertaining basketball with facilitators like Hayes and Cunningham setting up high-flying athletes like Bagley and Diallo. When this team comes back next season with another lottery pick and hopefully a healthy roster from the onset, they're going to make some noise.
The Pistons now have three games left beginning on Wednesday in Detroit against the surging Dallas Mavericks. After that, it's a home game against the Milwaukee Bucks and then the season finale in Philly against the 76ers. That's obviously a very tough stretch, which might be a blessing in disguise when it comes to draft position.
