In the waning days of a season that’s served up more than its share of misery and misfortune on the Pistons, there was no holding back the joy they derived from a night an unlikely star among them will never forget.
Malachi Flynn joined the rarefied air of the NBA’s 50-point club in Wednesday’s 121-113 loss to the Atlanta Hawks on a night the Pistons found out just minutes before tipoff that Cade Cunningham, coming off three consecutive 30-point outings, would be pulled to ease the strain on the left knee that’s dogged him since an early-January injury forced him out of the lineup for nearly three weeks.
Without Cunningham – plus the handful of other injured teammates – the Pistons needed scoring from somewhere, especially with Jaden Ivey struggling to find the range amid a 3 of 15 outing.
Enter Flynn, who needed only the first half to match his season high of 17 points. By the time the third quarter had ended, Flynn had soared past his previous career high, 27 points set in May 2021 as a Toronto rookie, with 31. Then he scored 19 more in the fourth quarter to join George Yardley (twice), Dave Bing, Kelly Tripucka, Jerry Stackhouse, Rip Hamilton, Blake Griffin and Saddiq Bey in the Pistons 50-point club.
“I think right now it’s a little tougher because, at the end of the day, you want to win. That’s my main goal,” Flynn said afterward. “But it definitely feels good. The guys congratulated me in the back; that also feels good to take in the moment. But I’m sure a couple of days from now, it’ll feel a little bit better.”
Flynn didn’t get to 50 because of any gimmicks or any gunning, either. He hit a remarkable 18 of 25 shots, including 5 of 9 from the 3-point line and 9 of 12 free throws. His six rebounds also shared the team lead and he led the Pistons with five assists and three steals.
“He just works on his game,” Monty Williams said. “He’s in the gym every morning, pretty much an hour before practice, maybe more. He works on his game. You saw that tonight. All those shots he made were shots I see him work on every day. It wasn’t just that. He had some timely passes. That tells you a lot about him as a player. When he saw guys open, he got off of it.”
Flynn got to 50 with his easiest basket of the night, an uncontested layup that came off a Chimezie Metu steal with 31 seconds left to pull the Pistons within five. He’d tripled with 51 seconds left to get to 48 points. Flynn hit 8 of 12 shots in the fourth quarter and 3 of 5 from the 3-point line.
Flynn, 25, was the 29th pick of the 2020 draft out of San Diego State. He spent his first three-plus seasons with Toronto and then was traded twice in a 40-day span, going from Toronto to New York in a deal headlined by O.G. Anunoby, R.J. Barrett and Immanuel Quickley and from New York to Detroit in the deal that sent veterans Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks to the Knicks with Quentin Grimes and draft capital coming back to the Pistons.
It's been a revolving door for the Pistons all season with Jaylin Nowell, signed to a 10-day contract earlier Wednesday, becoming the 31st player to suit up for them this season and tie an NBA record set recently by Memphis, another team beset by a horrific run of injuries this season. Through it all, Williams has consistently expressed his admiration and gratitude for the way Pistons players have persevered and maintained an esprit de corps.
“I think we’ve got a great group of young guys,” Flynn said. “Everybody’s welcomed me in. I think we’ve got like seven new guys, maybe more. We all hang out, have fun, practice, play around with each other, joke around with each other. That’s just who we are as a group and it starts at the top, from Monty to the players to the management. I think it’s one collective good group.”
“That’s not going to go anywhere,” Williams said of the team’s resolve and chemistry. “I’ve said it all year, I’ll continue to say it – these guys come in the gym every single day to get better, to hear the game plan, to get some of the wisdom that we may have to share with them. It starts with our players. They bring it every day. If you’d seen our shootaround this morning, you’d have thought it was the first week of training camp.
“I just told them, it’s an honor to coach a group like that. They’re not looking for excuses. They’re not victims. They want to win games and they know what we’re doing here. We’re building for this year, going forward and the future. All of these guys are really impressive to be around, not just the shot-making but the spirit and what they bring to the program every day.”
Flynn will be a free agent at season’s end, though the Pistons could make him a restricted free agent if they extend a qualifying offer by the end of June. He certainly gave them something to think about with the ninth 50-point game in Pistons history and the first since Bey scored 50 against Orlando two years ago. It was only the third 50-point game in NBA history by a player coming off the bench. Nick Anderson and Jamal Crawford had the others. It was the first time Flynn had scored 50 points at any level.
“I almost had it in high school,” he grinned. “My coach took me out.”