Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren have the Detroit Pistons off to a hot start

 

                                             (Cade Cunningham. Credit: Paul Sancya/AP Photo) 

The Detroit Pistons are off to an impressive 17-4 start, defeating the Atlanta Hawks 99-98 on Monday, December 1st. Leading the way for the Pistons is point guard Cade Cunningham, who is averaging 28.8 points, 6.4 rebounds, 9.4 assists, and 1.2 steals per game on 45.6% shooting from the field, 31.2% shooting from 3-point range, and 81.5% shooting from the foul line. After going 44-38 and finishing 6th in the Eastern Conference, the Pistons are now in first place in the East, looking like an NBA Finals contending team. 

Cunningham is obviously the engine that makes this Pistons team go. He's doing it all: scoring at an elite level, facilitating, rebounding, etc. He's simply sensational. But what's really helped them take the next step into being NBA championship contenders is the emergence of forward Jalen Duren, who is averaging 19.5 points, 11.8 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks per game. Last year, Duren was averaging 11.8 points, 10.3 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks per game. The rebounding and rim protection were there, but he's really taken a leap forward in his ability to score. Now that they have a legit one-two punch and also a nice third option in Tobias Harris (15.2 points), this Pistons team appears to have the pieces to make a real run at a championship this year. 

The biggest question for them is can they keep it up? The NBA season is such a grind and a lot of times teams that get off to hot starts like this fade as the season goes on. Playing this well for a quarter of the season is one thing, but to play this well for an entire season is another level. It'll be fun to see if the Pistons can keep this up and where they're at once we hit the All-Star break. That will tell us a lot about what kind of team this really is. I for one would love to see them make a deep run this year. It's been too long since the Pistons were this relevant. 

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