DETROIT — Cade Cunningham went driving at the rim with purpose. Fans at Little Caesars Arena began making noise seeing a display of energy from the Detroit Pistons guard on the fast break.
He moved his way through the Cleveland Cavaliers defense and rose toward the hoop, flipping an under-handed ball at the basket. It took a swirls inside the rim before falling out to a sigh heard around the arena.
That was just the kind of night it was for the Pistons. Cunningham’s missed layup sat amid a stretch of 19 straight missed field goals from Detroit in the first half that set them back for the night.
A slow performance on offense sank the Pistons (2-2) Monday night against the Cavaliers (3-1), dropping their first meeting with the Central Division foes, 116-95.
The Pistons got off to a solid start, building a 12-6 lead after Duncan Robinson hit on a pair of threes and Tobias Harris added one of his own. The teams went back-and-forth before the Cavaliers began a 25-2 run the Pistons would never return from.
The Cavaliers offered up some tough defense, but Detroit was also missing shots from right in front of the basket at times. The Pistons also turned the ball over 11 times in the first half, compared to their 13 total shots made.
Help finally came late in the second quarter as Robinson mercifully finished a layup at the rim. Harris put up five of his 10 first-half points to close the period and the Pistons found themselves down 63-41 at the half.
Detroit has had to mount some sort of comeback in all but one game this season — against the Rockets — and managed to erase double-digit deficits twice.
The Pistons didn’t have that in them Monday night.
For the game, Detroit shot 37.9% from the field and 32.4% from beyond the arc while turning the ball over 25 times. Cunningham led the team with 12 points, but shot 3-of-14 to get there.
BOX SCORE
Injuries still bugging the guards
Cunningham showed up on the Pistons’ injury report Monday afternoon due to a right facial contusion and left hip contusion. The facial injury was suffered during a head-to-head collision with Boston’s Neemias Queta that saw Cunningham spend a few moments down on the court holding his face.
He would end up being available to play, but the Pistons were potentially without three primary ball handlers as veteran Caris LeVert (hamstring) and third-year guard Marcus Sasser (hip) were both out again.
LeVert missed his third straight game while Sasser has yet to make his season debut for the Pistons. The pair were listed as questionable earlier in the day after being doubtful to play on Sunday, but both players were downgraded to out.
They’ve both returned to on-court activity, but have yet to become available as the Pistons are hoping to see them stack days of improvement before getting in a game.
Up next: The Pistons play one more at home on Wednesday against the Orlando Magic before heading to Mexico City for a matchup against the Dallas Mavericks.
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