The Detroit Pistons are off to a predictably rough start. They’re without Cade Cunningham, still sidelined by a mysterious lingering ankle injury, and they opened their season with two games against a solid Chicago Bulls club.
0-2 was staring them in the face from the opening tip.
It’s no surprise that the Pistons are off to a slow start without Cade Cunningham after two games against a tough Bulls squad.
Small sample size theater reigns supreme in these early days of the NBA season. Outrageous stats emerge and often end up evening out over the course of the year. Sometimes, though, they don’t, and the early trends end up being a reality.
Some of these early trends are too ridiculous to maintain, but they’re part of the fun of the first week or two of the season. And when they end up maintaining, well, that’s even better.
As for these Detroit Pistons, every trend is ugly. They can’t shoot, they can’t score, they can’t get to the free-throw line (and can’t hit once they get there), they can’t pass worth a damn, and they can’t avoid throwing the ball out of the gym. That can’t last forever, right?
Don’t answer that.
Eventually, Cade Cunningham will get on the floor, and the Pistons will get a break from the suddenly-vaunted Chicago Bulls, and some trends will normalize. In the meantime, however, we’re going to take a look at five crazy stats from the first two games of the season.
We’re going to start with a real humdinger.