Pistons Fall To The Knicks 118-96
In this story:
This game was ugly. The Pistons were kind of in the game when it was 27-27, but then the Knicks proceeded to go on a 13-0 run, and ran away with the game. Here some quick takeaways, which cover some good, some bad, and some ugly
Thoughts on the Game:
This Jaden Ivey Thing May Work
Ivey played a solid game overall. He did a great job controlling his tempo and showed promise with finishing around the room. He finished with 16 points on 6-9 shooting, quite impressive for a rookie making his debut in MSG. One play which I think represents the next step for him was when he became the primary ball handler for a possession and whipped the ball to a cutting Cade Cunningham for a bucket. Pistons fans should be cautiously optimistic. It is still preseason.
Killian Hayes is Aggressive!
If I told you Hayes would tie the most shots attempted by a Piston this game, what would you say? Even the commentators could not help but notice. He was receiving a lot of praise from Stan Van Gundy, though I am not sure how I feel about that. In all seriousness, Hayes looked for his shot more often than normal. He took pull up jumpers, he showcased the floater game and he shot the three ball. All still with his left hand, which is a little concerning, but that sort of aggressiveness is what Pistons fans have been asking for with Hayes.
Turnovers
We went straight to the ugly here. First, Miles McBride is a stud on defense, no question. But some of the passes made tonight were lazy at best, and the Knicks made the Pistons pay. It seemed all players struggled with turnovers to an extent. One play, which I think encapsulates this, was when Cade Cunningham threw a dime of a pass to Bojan Bogdanovic who just had to make a skip pass to Isaiah Stewart for the easy bucket only to mistime the pass to Stewart leading to a turnover. It may be rust, but it is definitely something the Pistons need to work on.
Honorable Mentions:
Jalen Duren getting twelve rebounds
This is big time from Duren and is one of the main things outlined in the preview of tonight's game.
Bogdanovic is a Keeper
The young Pistons will be glad to know that they have a veteran who can stretch the floor and help like a coach as they grow together. Bojan could end up being the glue that holds the team together.
