Detroit Pistons work deep end of bench in 108-92 victory over Cleveland Cavaliers

The Detroit Pistons ended the preseason on a strong note.

They blew out the Cleveland Cavaliers at home, 108-92, in their exhibiton finale on Wednesday. The Pistons (3-2) now have a week to prepare for the regular-season opener against the Indiana Pacers next Wednesday.

Simone Fontecchio had his best performance of the preseason, leading the team with 18 points and knocking down five of his 10 3-point attempts. Guard Daniss Jenkins (13 points), on a two-way contract, was the Pistons' only other player to score in double figures. Paul Reed added six points and nine rebounds.

PUTTING IN A FOUNDATION: As preseason nears end, Detroit Pistons remain 'work in progress' with new system

The starting five (Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, Tim Hardaway Jr., Tobias Harris and Jalen Duren) only played eight minutes together in the first quarter. Jarrett Allen led Cleveland with 19 points and eight rebounds in 26 minutes. The Cavaliers' starters opened the second half but sat in the fourth, a period the Pistons won by 10 points.

Entire roster gets opportunity in finale

Fittingly for the final preseason game, Bickerstaff made a point to find playing time for all 18 players on the active roster. The only players who didn't check in are former two-way forward Tosan Evboumwan, who was waived before the game, and Ausar Thompson and rookie Bobi Klintman, with the former awaiting clearance to return from a blood clot and the latter dealing with a calf injury that cost him all of preseason.

“The guys, some of the Exhibit 10 guys, the camp guys we brought in, the two-ways have worked their tails off all camp long,” Bickersatff said pregame. “Tonight, we want to give them an opportunity to get some run, get some minutes. The guys who have been playing, they will play as well. But we want to get a look at everybody tonight.”

Fourteen players entered the game in the first half, and the starters ended up logging the fewest minutes. Marcus Sasser, Malik Beasley, Fontecchio, Holland and Isaiah Stewart replaced the starters toward the end of the first and proceeded to play most of the second quarter. Reed, Jenkins, Wendell Moore Jr. and Exhibit 10 forward Lamar Stevens also received minutes.

Holland ended up pacing the team in first-half time at 12:44, and he got the offense rolling for the second unit with seven straight points in the second quarter — a 3-pointer, and two drives to the rim that ended with righty finishes. Fontecchio also shined, scoring 10 points in the second period with a four-point play plus two 3-pointers.

The starters remained on the bench in the second half, which opened with Sasser, Moore, Holland, Fontecchio and Reed on the floor. The remaining four active players on the roster — Exhibit 10 signees Tolu Smith, Javante McCoy, Dereon Seabron and Aaron Estrada, all appeared in the second half, with the latter two the last to check in during the final period.

Second-unit woes persist

The Pistons started the night hot, knocking down eight of their first nine shot attempts (with eight assists and a single turnover) to take an early 21-11 lead. Momentum began to shift in the Cavaliers’ favor before the starters checked out, and the offense collapsed once they did.

Four of the Pistons’ six turnovers in the quarter were committed in the final 4:18 of the quarter, including three in the final 1:08. It helped the Cavaliers close the quarter with a 23-7 run to take control early. Turnover issues persisted in the second period, as the bench tallied five more.

Sasser has had opportunity but hasn’t yet shown that he can handle point guard responsibilities full-time. After committing his third turnover of the night, Bickerstaff briefly subbed him out for a chat before checking him back in alongside Jenkins to finish the first half.

Though their turnover woes persisted in the second half, the bench outplayed Cleveland down the stretch and won the second half by 17 points. A dunk from Stevens, followed by back-to-back 3's by Jenkins and Estrada, pushed the Pistons lead to 102-86 with 4:38 remaining and cliched the victory.

Bickerstaff has experimented with staggering Cunningham and Ivey to keep the offense moving when Cunningham sits. It’s unclear how Bickerstaff will tweak his rotation in the week leading up to the regular season, but it’s clear the Pistons have playmaking issues to solve when their star player is on the bench.

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

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Pistons work deep end of bench in 108-92 victory over Cleveland Cavaliers