DET 113, TOR 95: Cunningham Puts Up Monster 71 ESPN FP
Tommy Flanagan
Journeyman Electrician ยท Boston Celtics fan
Pistons Thump Raptors 113-95: Cade's a Monster, Paul Reed Just Broke Fantasy Basketball
Detroit walked into Toronto and made it look easy. 113-95 final. Not exactly must-watch stuff in the fourth quarter, but there's gold in this blowout if you're paying attention.
| Player | ESPN FP | Yahoo FP | Tonight | Season Avg | +/- Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cade Cunningham | 71.0 | 58.9 | 28/7/9 | 25.3/5.6/9.6 | +2.7 |
| Scottie Barnes | 59.0 | 53.9 | 17/7/5 | 19.4/8.4/5.6 | -2.4 |
| Paul Reed | 60.0 | 51.5 | 22/5/3 | 5.9/4.2/1.2 | +16.1 |
| RJ Barrett | 33.0 | 29.6 | 16/3/4 | 18.6/5.3/3.6 | -2.6 |
| Tobias Harris | 26.0 | 28.2 | 12/11/0 | 13.5/4.7/2.4 | -1.5 |
| Immanuel Quickley | 33.0 | 27.9 | 18/2/5 | 17.0/4.4/6.1 | +1.0 |
| Duncan Robinson | 26.0 | 24.3 | 13/4/1 | 12.2/2.7/1.9 | +0.8 |
| Ausar Thompson | 21.0 | 18.8 | 4/4/4 | 10.4/6.0/2.7 | -6.4 |
| Jakob Poeltl | 13.0 | 15.2 | 9/6/0 | 9.7/7.7/2.1 | -0.7 |
| Ja'Kobe Walter | 16.0 | 15.1 | 3/3/3 | 6.3/2.2/1.0 | -3.3 |
The Good Stuff
Cade Cunningham dropped a casual 28/7/9 on 9-14 shooting with six threes. That's not stat padding in garbage time either. Dude was efficient and in control the whole way. He's an All-NBA selection for a reason and he reminded everyone of it. 58.9 Yahoo FP, just slightly above his season average, which tells you this was vintage Cade stuff. He's not having a career year, but he's consistently putting you in position to win your matchup. Keep riding this.
But here's the real story: Paul Reed went absolutely nuclear. I'm talking +16.1 points above his season average nuclear. 22 points, 5 boards, 4 blocks on 10-17 shooting. His season average is 5.9 PPG. He dropped almost four times that tonight. Reed finished with 51.5 Yahoo FP in just 32 minutes. That's a league winner if it sticks. Problem is, it probably won't. This was one game where everything fell his way and the Raptors had no one to throw at him inside. Don't trade your future for one Paul Reed game, but yeah, he's worth a look in 12-team leagues if he's sitting there.
Tobias Harris got rebounds to fall (11 boards, +6.3 vs his average) but couldn't get the scoring going (12 points, -1.5 vs avg). He's basically what he is at this point: a role guy who shows up when the matchup's right and disappears when it's not. Not adding, not dropping. Just owning.
The Toronto Nightmare
RJ Barrett shot 4-6, which sounds fine until you realize he went 0-1 from three and didn't get any boards or assists. 16 points sounds okay but he was -2.6 from his usual output. Scottie Barnes put up his normal solid line (17/7/5) with great free throw shooting (7-7) but his season's been trending down and tonight didn't change anything. Both guys are stuck in that weird spot where they're getting minutes and putting up numbers but nothing's really clicking for them offensively.
Brandon Ingram was the real dud. 13 points in 32 minutes on 5-7 shooting but zero rebounds, zero assists, zero steals. That's not a game log, that's a box score ghost. He's down almost 9 points from his season average and Toronto's offense looked completely unhinged around him. If you drafted him expecting star-level production, that ship has sailed. He's a sell-high candidate if someone bites and a drop candidate if nobody does.
Role Depth Guys Worth Knowing About
Duncan Robinson hit his shots (13/4 on 4-8, including 2 threes) and kept it simple. He's basically a four-game regression to the mean at this point but he's got a role. Caris LeVert didn't play enough minutes (17) to matter, but when he was on court he looked fine. Kevin Huerter played 20 and was 4-9 from deep, basically what you expect. These are not waiver targets, but they're the kind of guys who can save your week if the starter above them gets hurt.
Bottom Line
Cade's your guy in Detroit if you've got him. He's a lock for double-digit assists and enough scoring to matter. Paul Reed had the most interesting game here but I'm not getting cute and thinking this is the new normal. One blowout game against a bad interior doesn't suddenly make him a starter.
Toronto looks cooked offensively right now. Their shot selection was brutal, their ball movement was nonexistent, and when the game got away from them in the third quarter, nobody stepped up. Quickley was fine (18/5 on decent efficiency) but that's not carrying an offense anymore. You're not adding anyone from this Raptors roster to your active roster unless you're in a deep league and feeling desperate.
Detroit gets the job done, goes home happy, and we move on. That's the game.