Tobias Harris shines in debut, Cade Cunningham does a lot in blowout for Detroit Pistons

The Detroit Pistons have a clear “A” and “B” option on offense this season. 

They took the floor together for the first time on Friday, as Tobias Harris made his preseason debut after missing the first two games with COVID-19. He and Cade Cunningham got whatever they wanted against the Phoenix Suns and spearheaded a blowout victory. 

The Pistons defeated the Suns on the road, 109-91, to bounce back from a nine-point loss to the Suns in East Lansing on Tuesday to improve to 2-1 in preseason. Cunningham finished with a near-triple double — 25 points (on 10-for-16 shooting), 12 rebounds, nine assists and two steals. Harris tallied 22 points (on 8-for-13 shooting). 

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It was an encouraging performance that the team will look to build on with two exhibition games remaining before the regular-season opener on Oct. 23. As a team, the Pistons shot 48.8% despite hitting just 26.5% on 3-pointers. They also got another strong outing from Jaden Ivey, who scored 12 of his 16 points in the third period. 

Kevin Durant (18 points) and Bradley Beal (17 points) led the way for Phoenix. 

With Harris’ return, J.B. Bickerstaff debuted his third new starting lineup in as many games with he and Tim Hardaway Jr. replacing Simone Fontecchio and Malik Beasley. It was Hardaway’s second start, after getting the nod in the Pistons’ preseason opener Sunday against the Milwaukee Bucks. 

Isaiah Stewart started the second half in place of Jalen Duren, who looked as though he might’ve tweaked something in his lower body during the first half.

Grand Rapids native Devin Booker missed the game for the Suns due to right ankle soreness. Bobi Klintman (right calf contusion) missed his third straight game for the Pistons. 

Tobias Harris, Cade Cunningham form potent duo in win

Harris quickly asserted himself as a go-to option, and Cunningham followed suit. 

The veteran forward scored the Pistons’ first seven points, and proceeded to make his first six shot attempts for an early 14 points in the first quarter. He scored in a variety of ways — a pair of pull-up jumpers from midrange, a pair of catch-and-shoot 3-pointers and a steal and transition dunk. 

After two quiet preseason games, Cunningham found his rhythm. He got going with a fast-break dunk after stealing the ball from Durant, then added a midrange jumper and a 3 later in the first quarter. 

Cunningham produced one of the top highlights of the night with another play involving on Durant, blowing past him with a spin move before finishing through contact with his left hand to draw a foul. The ensuing free throw brought him to 14 points at the end of the first quarter, on 6-for-7 shooting. 

The duo continued to knock down shots in the second. By halftime, they were responsible for 38 of the Pistons’ 65 points, on 15-for-22 shooting overall. They consistently generated their own looks and created for their teammates, accounting for eight of their 12 assists in the same span to help build a 15-point lead. 

It was as good a debut as the Pistons could’ve hoped for for Harris, who missed time this week on the injury report but immediately looked comfortable with the scheme. In practice earlier this week, he talked about getting acclimated during practice, before COVID-19 forced him to take time off. 

There are two preseason games remaining for him to settle in even further before the regular season opens.

“For a guy like myself, being able to catch and shoot, being able to find passing lanes for different guys for open looks and being aggressive and using my size and speed to punish the little guys, or blow by slower forwards, that’s been the name of the game my whole career,” he said Wednesday. “Obviously for us it’s just figuring out different guys, personnel-wise on the floor, how they complement each other and how we can make the game easy for each other.”

Contact Omari Sankofa II at osankofa@freepress.com. Follow him @omarisankofa.