The New Orleans Pelicans and the Detroit Pistons have had two of the worst records in the NBA all season, but both have shown improvement in recent weeks heading into their Tuesday matchup in the Motor City.
New Orleans started the season 3-16 but is 15-16 since. They led through most of their Monday night game at Cleveland but wound up falling 93-90 to the Cavaliers.
The Pistons have won five of 12 after a 7-30 start. They are coming off a 115-105 home victory against Cleveland on Sunday in which they overcame a 15-0 deficit to start the game.
“That’s the beauty of the NBA,” said Saddiq Bey, who led Detroit with 31 points. “We didn’t want to start like that, but we knew we had plenty of time to get back into the game. We just needed to start doing the little things.”
Pistons rookie Cade Cunningham didn’t score in the first half, but he still wound up with his second triple-double — 19 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
“I can’t let myself be a prisoner to whatever happens in the first half,” Cunningham said. “We made adjustments and they made adjustments, and I have to be ready to do what I need to do. I have to throw away the first half.”
Cunningham, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 draft, has emerged as the Pistons’ leader.
“He’s the floor general and we trust him,” Bey said.
Cleveland led Detroit 98-89 with nine minutes to play, but the Cavaliers only scored seven more points.
“He’s a clutch player,” Pistons coach Dwane Casey said of Cunningham. “He has ‘it’ down the stretch.”
The Pelicans had no such success in the stretch run against Cleveland on Monday. Ahead by a game-high nine points early in the fourth quarter, New Orleans couldn’t hold on.
Poor long-distance shooting was part of the problem, as the Pelicans sank just 6 of 30 3-point attempts. In their past three games, they have shot 19 of 96 (19.8 percent) from 3-point range.
“We just have to keep shooting,” said Devonte’ Graham, who led New Orleans with 20 points on Monday. “That’s all we can do. They’ll start to fall. We believe in it and we work on it.”
New Orleans held down the Cavaliers’ offense for more than three quarters, holding a 75-66 lead before giving up 27 points in the final 9:02.
“Defensively, we did a good job starting the game off,” Graham said. “Obviously, they did a good job of executing down the stretch.”
Leading scorer Brandon Ingram was sidelined for the fifth consecutive game because of a sprained ankle, and the Pelicans are 2-12 in games he has missed this season.
In his absence Monday, the Pelicans started backup center Jaxson Hayes (6-foot-11) alongside 6-11 Jonas Valanciunas to match up with Cleveland’s 6-11 Evan Mobley and 6-10 Jarrett Allen.
“I definitely had fun playing (power forward),” said Hayes, who finished with 19 points and seven rebounds. “I like to be out in space. I think it’s a nice combination (with Valanciunas) for our team.”
Coach Willie Green said he will “explore” using the Valanciunas-Hayes combination more often.
–Field Level Media
