The Detroit Pistons are already halfway to matching last season’s win total. They have a chance to reach a .500 record with a home win against the Chicago Bulls on Monday night.
Detroit had a rough season last year, finishing with just 14 wins, the worst in franchise history. However, the Pistons have shown big improvement under their new coach, J.B. Bickerstaff, in his first season with the team.
The Pistons have won six of their last nine games, and even in their losses, they have been competitive. They lost by one point on a last-second putback to Charlotte, by two points to Houston, and in overtime to Milwaukee.
On Sunday night, Detroit had its biggest win of the season, beating Washington 124-104.
Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey, the Pistons’ backcourt duo, led the team in the win. Cunningham had his seventh double-double of the season with 21 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists, and he helped on defense with five steals.
“The ball is in his hands the majority of the night, but he understands the total game,” Bickerstaff said. “He understands what his teammates need, the team needs in the moment. I think you’re seeing him express all those things. So, he’s growing from a leadership standpoint. He held us accountable for doing the things we needed to do tonight.”
Ivey also had a standout performance with a season-high 28 points and eight assists. Ivey has scored 20 or more points in six games this season.
“He can hurt you in so many different ways,” Bickerstaff said. “He can get to the basket at will. He’s doing a great job of finding his teammates when people want to commit two bodies to him. And then he picks up full-court most possessions. So, he’s setting that head-of-the-snake mentality for our defense as well.”
The Bulls are also playing the second game of a back-to-back. Their defense has been a big problem recently, giving up 144 points to Cleveland on Friday and 143 points in a 36-point loss to Houston on Sunday.
“We didn’t have one guy try and take a charge. Somebody’s got to put their body in a play,” said Chicago coach Billy Donovan. “They kind of just came right through us, and we’re going to have to make a stand.”
Donovan mentioned that the team got frustrated when many of their good scoring chances didn’t fall. The Bulls shot just 33.6 percent overall and 25 percent on 56 three-point attempts.
“We can’t be a team, ‘Well, if we make shots, we’re going to be really competitive. If we don’t, we’re not,’” Donovan said. “We’ve got to find other ways to do it.”
Bulls guard Coby White was very frustrated with the performance and called it “an embarrassment.”
“This was a disservice to the fans and a disservice to a historic organization. The fans don’t deserve that,” he said.
Monday’s game will be the first of four matchups between the Pistons and Bulls this season. The two teams will also face off three more times during an 11-day stretch in February. Last season, they split their four-game series.
