The Pistons blew a late lead against Cleveland Wednesday night. On Friday night, they're facing elimination in Game 6 of their best-of-seven series with the Cavs.
In Tigers news, with potentially hundreds of millions of dollars on the line, one Detroit player agreed to be something of a surgical guinea pig.
For more on those stories and other sports news, Michigan Public commentator John U. Bacon spoke with Morning Edition host Doug Tribou.
Detroit Pistons' playoff schedule (Cleveland leads series 3-2):
Pistons at Cavaliers, Friday - 7:00 p.m.
(If necessary) Cavaliers at Pistons, Sunday - TBD
Doug Tribou: The Pistons looked like they’d taken control of Game 5 of their series with the Cavaliers. Detroit led by nine in the closing minutes of regulation. Then the Cavs went on a run, tied it up, and controlled the pace in overtime. How did the Pistons fall short in your view?
John U. Bacon: Well, that's becoming a very common question Doug. Before I dive into the latest autopsy, I have another basic question: I know the local weather guy gets blamed for bad weather. Does the local sports guy also get blamed for bad losses? [Laughs] Because if so, I've got a lot of explaining to do today with the Tigers and the Pistons.
As good as they are — and they have been No. 1 in the Eastern Conference this season — they don't have much playoff experience. And that is a different level of basketball, as you say. That's how you make dumb mistakes in crunch time. And they simply rely way too much on Cade Cunningham, their one bona fide star.
DT: And you're exactly right that they had trouble closing out. In games 1 and 2 at home, they looked like a team who knew how to deal with a close lead. A lot of playoff games are going to be decided by a handful of points, and the Pistons just drilled down and finished. And in Wednesday night's game they just could not get that strong close that playoff teams need.
JUB: You can't turn the ball over. You can't fail to box out, which is what they did Wednesday night. And that's how you lose a game you should have won.
DT: And Cunningham had 39 points, but no one else on the team got to 20. The Cavs had three players with 20 or more. On the Inside the NBA postgame show, Charles Barkley said he thinks Cade Cunningham carries more responsibilities than any other player in the NBA. Would you agree?
JUB: Well, first of all, I'm not one to disagree with Sir Charles, especially when he's right. When you rely that much on one player, predictable problems will arise through pressure and fatigue. Look, Cunningham needs help and the Pistons need to get that for him in the off season.
DT: From May 1 through May 13, the Tigers had eight losses. We've talked about problems with the pitching staff, especially the high number of injuries the team has suffered this season, but John, it turns out there's more to baseball than pitching.
JUB: You know, I looked it up and you're right, it turns out. Yes, the pitching staff has been decimated, with four of five starters out at one point. But the patchwork pitching has actually still been better than the hitting. The bats have been yet again the problem, scoring two runs here and one run there, and against Boston, in one game, zero.
DT: Well, one thing the Tigers have been missing in addition to hitting is Tarik Skubal, who is one of those injured pitchers. He had surgery to remove a piece of calcified cartilage that had broken off his elbow and was floating around in the joint. His surgeon told the New York Times it was the size of a fat lima bean. It's amazing, John, how a fat lima bean can seem so small and then suddenly so large when you picture it in your elbow [Laughs].
JUB: [Laughs] It's all about context, Doug.
DT: Well, as we've discussed, there's a lot riding on this surgery, both for Skubal's career and his next contract, and for the Tigers' postseason hopes for this year. So that makes it all the more interesting that Skubal agreed to be the first MLB player to have arthroscopic surgery done with a device known as the NanoNeedle Scope 2.0.
How much confidence or optimism should Tigers fans be feeling about Skubal returning to form later this season, given all of that?
JUB: Well, Doug, you got to know your NanoNeedles. I've been saying this for years, as you know.
But the hope should be quite high and not just because of the NanoNeedle 2.0, but because Skubal has every incentive to get back as soon as possible. And so does his agent, who's been saying he will be back much sooner than expected. So in a week of bad news, there's a little glimmer of hope.
Editor's note: Some quotes in this article have been lightly edited for length and clarity. You can play the full audio of this interview near the top of this page.
