This is one of those games that you see on the calendar at this point in the year and assume it should be an easy win. I mean, Vegas even had the Detroit Pistons as 12-point favorites over the New Orleans Pelicans pregame. But with Tom Hardaway Jr. leaving last game wearing a boot on his right foot and Cade Cunningham being a late scratch with bilateral calf soreness, this was no longer an easy win without two starters.
Dennis Schröder and Malik Beasley got the starts for Cade and THJ. Detroit got out to an early lead and were up by nine heading into halftime, but New Orleans’ hot shooting from deep, including a 40-piece from CJ McCollum, kept them in the game until the final minute when Detroit was finally able to put the Pelicans away and win the game 136-130.