He had so much bounce after running the floor that he even ran into timeouts. He forced the Cavaliers into a couple. On this night, Hamidou Diallo was fierce. He skied and he flied, and he didn't land before lifting the Pistons over a team they'll soon be chasing in the East.
"They're one of the top teams in our conference," said Dwane Casey. "They're our goal. They're what we're trying to get to."
The Pistons have a centerpiece in Cade Cunningham, the first overall pick who sank some clutch free throws in the final minute to seal a 106-103 win. The pieces around him are still falling into place. You can write Saddiq Bey and Isaiah Stewart into the future. You can include Marvin Bagley III and his 16 points Thursday night, in pencil. At what point do we put Diallo in ink?
Athleticism wins in the NBA. So do limberness and length. Diallo has all of that, and on Thursday he had his shot. He nailed a trio of threes in the first quarter, including a running buzzer-beater that began about the time he took the ball from his own baseline with three seconds on the clock. Diallo didn't take another three the rest of the game, because the rest of his game took over.
Flash to the fourth, Pistons down one. Diallo intercepts a pass by Evan Mobley on the defensive end, then beats him on the offensive end with a twisting, tumbling layup high off the glass. Timeout Cavs. Three minutes later, Pistons up six. Diallo springs into the air for a defensive rebound over the 7'0 Lauri Markkanen, like he's soaring over Shaq in the 2019 dunk contest, then streaks up the floor and converts a layup, this time with his left, over the 6'8 Kevin Love. Timeout Cavs.
As the Cavaliers walked slowly off the floor, Diallo knifed through them again. He even beat his teammates back to the bench, where Cunningham and others were waving towels in his direction to cool off the air. No use. Diallo was a Piston possessed, and the Pistons are better for possessing Diallo.
"One advantage we had was speed against their size, and we took advantage of it as much as we could," said Casey. "I thought Hami and the second unit came in and really changed the game, sped up the game to the tempo that helped us."
This was Diallo distilled, 20 minutes of boisterous basketball off the bench. He produced 21 points, six boards and a couple steals, and more energy than anyone else on the floor. Most importantly, he finished plus-nine. The Pistons were the better team with Diallo in the game. He didn't show a sign of fatigue until he sat down for his postgame press conference, rubbed his eyes and completely missed the first question that came his way.
"You said what again?" Diallo said with a sheepish smile. "My bad. I'm so drained, bro."
No one could blame him. And no one could blame Pistons GM Troy Weaver if he looked down Thursday night and decided that Diallo is here to stay. Maybe he's already made up his mind. Weaver brought Diallo to Detroit after watching him lurch through two seasons in Oklahoma City, then signed him to a two-year deal last summer after he picked up steam. The second year is a $5.2 million club option for next season. Picking it up would be easy. Working out a longer-term deal might be wise.
Diallo, 23, is a player every team needs. He's a player every good team has. The Pistons beat a good team Thursday night because Diallo was on their team, because he entered the game and put the Cavs on their heels. Diallo plays on his toes. He's averaging 15 points in the last eight games, and he's liable to go off for 30 in the next one. He can start if necessary, but he's best as a super-sub, a sixth man who wears No. 6.
Nobody on the 14-45 Pistons has a plus-minus to be proud of this season. But Diallo's, for what it's worth, is much better when he comes off the bench. Not that he cares either way.
"It's just about going out there and trying to do things that help winning," he said. "When you do things that help winning, it don't matter how many minutes you play, if you start, if you come off the bench. If you affect winning, in whatever you do on the basketball court, it's going to stand out."
Diallo stood out Thursday night. In a game featuring first, third, fifth and seventh overall picks from the last two drafts, he was the most noticeable player on the floor. Diallo was the 45th overall pick in 2018 after one year at Kentucky, drafted for the potential he's starting to realize in Detroit. Hard to believe he was barely getting 10 minutes a night, if any at all, when the season began. He's just getting started as the season winds to a finish.
The same might be true of his time with the Pistons.
"We got a lot of games left, a lot of things to prove — as a team first," Diallo said. "It's not worrying about what (I) can do. It's worrying about what we can do as the Pistons."
