Pistons - Knicks, Cade Cunningham Media Parade, and Jaden Ivey | The Weekly Drive
The Detroit Pistons will head to the Big Apple to take on the New York Knicks in the first round of the playoffs.
Good afternoon Pistons fans, and welcome back to the Weekly Drive. Detroit has its playoff matchup set, Cade Cunningham wants to be the best player in the league, and Jaden Ivey is cleared for reconditioning. Let’s get into it.
Game Recaps
Game 79: Sacramento 127, Detroit 117
Rapid Detail: Well that was disappointing. The Pistons had as much as an 18-point lead, but they got thoroughly out-played in the fourth quarter en route to a 10-point loss. The Kings’ stars showed out with a combined 99 points from DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine, and Domantas Sabonis. Maybe the most concerning part? They got out-rebounded 50-37.
Game 80: Knicks 106, Detroit 115
Rapid Detail: In a playoff preview, the Pistons came out out on top to once again beat New York. Detroit responded to a lambasting from head coach J.B Bickerstaff on the team’s rebounding to beat the Knicks by one board accumulate 16 second-chance points.
Game 81: Milwaukee 125, Detroit 119
Rapid Detail: The Bucks clinched the five-seed with the victory, meaning they will play the Indiana Pacers in the first round of the playoffs. On the flip side, the Pistons locked themselves in to the six-seed and will play those New York Knicks in the first round.
Game 82: Detroit 133, Milwaukee 140 (OT)
Rapid Detail: In a meaningless game, the Pistons suffered their third loss in four games. Almost all of the rotation regulars sat out the game on both sides, trying to avoid a freak injury. Next stop: Madison Square Garden to take on the Knicks.
Jaden Ivey Injury Update
The Pistons announced that guard Jaden Ivey, who has not played since New Years Day with a broken leg, has been cleared for basketball activities and will begin reconditioning to return to play.
Thats a big step for Ivey, and certainly good to see after the nasty looking injury earlier in the year. But to what extent Ivey is able to make an impact is less certain. Even if he is able to play, would the Pistons want him out there trying to play at a playoff level? Would he even be able to? Likely, no.
But, regardless, it will be nice to see him healthy.
Cade Media Parade
With the Pistons making the postseason on the shoulders of their star point guard, ESPN and SLAM have been making quite the public relations push to market Detroit’s best player. Cade Cunningham donned the cover of SLAM, sporting next year’s City Connect jersey in the process. As if that wasn’t enough, Cunningham sat down with ESPN’s Shams Charania to discuss his progression into the upper echelon of the NBA - including his desire to be the best player in the world.
Playoffs? Playoffs.
The Pistons will get almost a week of rest as they gear up to play the New York Knicks on Saturday, April 19th. Given they are playing in New York, the game will be on ESPN at 6:00 pm EST.
This is unfamiliar territory for a lot of us at Palace of Pistons, and we can’t wait to cover the team heading into the first round of the playoffs. Keep an eye out for breakdowns, previews, and of course the Palace of Pistons Podcast as we discuss Detroit’s first playoff basketball game since Blake Griffin suited up for them. Its been a long time, and we hope you will join us.
Want to watch the playoffs with the Palace of Pistons crew? We plan on live-streaming the games on PlayBack, so give us a follow here for when we go live Saturday.
See you next week.
Mike