Cade Cunningham has carried the Detroit Pistons all season. With that season on the verge of ending, the Pistons’ bench came through in a big way in their 115-94 Game 6 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers to extend their time in the NBA playoffs.
Paul Reed scored 17 points off the bench as the Pistons’ reserves combined to score a stunning 48 points. Even Daniss Jenkins, elevated to the starting lineup for Games 5 and 6 but spiritually a bench player, scored 15 points and sank three three-pointers as his team forced a Game 7.
Detroit Pistons kept season alive with group effort
Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff made a few significant adjustments to his rotations in Game 6, some strategic and some forced upon him by injuries and foul trouble. Duncan Robinson missed Game 5 with a back injury. He came off the bench for Game 6 and made four threes in 20 minutes.
When Ausar Thompson was limited by foul trouble, Caris LeVert gave the Pistons eight points and 29 minutes of solid defense on the Cavaliers’ guards, and Marcus Sasser shot 4-for-5 and had a plus/minus of +27.
Reed has supplanted Isaiah Stewart as the backup center and got an extended chance to shine in Game 6 when Jalen Duren went to the locker room with an ankle injury, shooting 7-for-9 with six rebounds. His most amazing basket came on a play that exemplified the hustle of the Pistons reserves. Reed saved a rebound going out of bounds, Robinson saved his save and then Reed got an and-one on a shot that took a very long time to fall in off the rim.