Beating Good Teams, Paul Reed is Back, and Kevin Durant's Support | The Weekly Drive
Paul Reed was brought back as part of some nifty cap maneuvering, setting Detroit up for a busy trade deadline.
Hey Pistons fans, it's time again for the Weekly Drive. The Pistons had a good week with two great wins against solid teams, brought back Paul Reed, and figure to have a busy trade deadline week as the only team with cap space. Let's get into it this holiday week.
Weekly Game Recaps
Game 27: Miami 124, Detroit 125 (OT)
Rapid Detail: Can these two teams play a normal game? The answer is no, but it was entertaining. Tim Hardaway Jr. was on a heater in overtime, drilling three three-pointers to bring the Pistons back from the dead. Cade Cunningham had a career-high 18 assists, too.
Game 28: Utah 128, Detroit 119
Rapid Detail: The Jazz scored 48 points in the first quarter, which set a bad tone for the rest of the game. Detroit was unable to capitalize on 27 Utah turnovers fully, but it was close. The Pistons got it to within five points at the 1:48 mark before John Collins and Keynote George hit back-to-back threes to put the nail in the coffin.
Game 29: Detroit 133, Phoenix 125
Rapid Detail: How about that for a recovery game? Cunningham out-dueled Kevin Durant and led the Pistons to a near wire-to-wire victory in the desert. Detroit dominated from the jump and didn’t trail again after the first few minutes, a loss that had some Suns fans booing their team’s 12th loss in the last 18 games.
Paul Reed-turn
A few hours after I published last week’s article, the Pistons brought back Paul Reed and ended up saving a few million dollars in the process. That is smart management by Trajon Langdon to help the Pistons be even more flexible come trade deadline time, one in which Detroit should be plenty busy.
Oh, the Pistons Should be Plenty Busy at the Trade Deadline
ESPN’s Bobby Marks says the Pistons are the team that controls the February 6th trade deadline, a pleasant change of pace from being an afterthought. With that aforementioned cap space and tradable contracts, Detroit is in an ideal position to be a third team in trades to help facilitate things for other teams. The reward? Draft capital, and plenty of it.
Durant Seal of Approval
Cade Cunningham thinks he should be an All-Star, and that is probably true regardless of who agrees. But Kevin Durant feels the same way, as the Athletic noted here.
One of the joys of Christmas Day is of course the NBA slate of games, and I will surely be watching. Maybe in the next year or two, the Pistons will get the nod to play on the national stage in that capacity. Until then, it’ll be another LeBron battle against the Golden State Warriors.
Have a happy holiday week, and see you next Monday.
Mike