Atop the East, Jaden Ivey, and Isaac Jones | The Weekly Drive
The Pistons keep winning, and remain one of the most fun teams in the NBA.
Good morning Pistons fans, thanks for checking back in to the Weekly Drive. Who is that at the top of the Eastern Conference?
Oh right, its Detroit. Let’s review how they got there.
Game Recaps
Rapid Reaction: Cade Cunningham scored 31 points, Jalen Duren had 22 points and 22 rebounds, and the Pistons took care of business against a team they should beat. And they did, with minimal effort. Former Piston Svi Mykhailiuk had a career-high 28 points to lead Utah.
Game 9: Detroit 125, Brooklyn 107
Rapid Reaction: A beat down, plain and simple. The Nets are, almost inarguably, the worst team in the NBA. The only issue, I guess, is that the Pistons continued to lose first quarters - this one 29-27. It didn’t matter, but it’s a trend that you would like to see end. Aaron Johnson wrote about here.
Game: 10: Detroit 111, Philadelphia 108
Rapid Reaction: Make it six in a row, as the Pistons defeated the Sixers to cap off a perfect week. Cade, who scored 24 of his 26 points in the second half, sent former Piston Andre Drummond (who started in place of Joel Embiid) to the nether realm with an emphatic dunk late in the fourth quarter. This was an impressive win for a Pistons team that was not really challenged in the two games prior, but fought hard down the stretch in a way that I am not sure they would have been able to do last season.
Jaden Ivey Update Coming Soon?
Its about that time, if the original timeline is to be trusted. The Pistons last issued an update on October 16th that Ivey would be reevaluated in four weeks after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery. Since then, it has been very quiet on the Ivey front.
No doubt that the Pistons would benefit from Ivey, but given the fact there hasn’t been much news on his status, it is fair to question how soon he would be able to help.
News and Notes
Marcus Sasser will be reevaluated in four weeks with the hip impingement injury, per a team press release. The injury has kept Sasser out for the entire season.
The Pistons claimed Sacramento Kings center Isaac Jones off of waivers according to ESPN Shams Charania. Jones now occupies the 15th spot on the roster, but of course could be waived or moved if somebody else became available.
Malik Beasley continues to be very pro-Pistons on social media, begging the question: is he nearing a return to the Detroit roster?
Remember last week when I said there should be reasonable expectation that the Pistons be 8-2 by the next Weekly Drive? Well here we are at that next Weekly Drive, and Detroit sits atop the Eastern Conference at 8-2. What will there record be in another seven days?
See you all next week.
Mike