The Detroit Pistons were only three minutes into their first preseason game in October when they were already losing by a large margin to the Milwaukee Bucks. At that point, J.B. Bickerstaff called a timeout to calm his team down.
He still remembers how the crowd reacted.
“They booed us,” said Bickerstaff, who was coaching the Pistons in his first season.
Now, the boos have stopped. The Pistons, a team that lost 28 games in a row last season, now have a 40-32 record and are close to securing a winning record. They are guaranteed at least a spot in the play-in tournament and can still finish in the top six for a place in the Eastern Conference playoffs. They’ve already increased their win total by 26 games from last season, which is the biggest improvement in the team’s history.
They are ahead of where they expected to be. And they’ve become one of the biggest surprises in the NBA this year.
“The plan was always to win. The plan was to be better in January than we were in November and to be better in March than we were in January,” said Pistons general manager Trajan Langdon. “I always told my people, ‘I don’t know what that’s going to mean, but that’s what we’re going to set out to do.’”
“But to say that with 10 games left we’re going to be at 40 wins, I would have lost that bet.”
The team has had a successful season in many ways. Cade Cunningham, whom former GM Troy Weaver made the No. 1 overall pick in 2021, has made his first All-Star team. He’s a serious All-NBA candidate and is averaging 25.7 points and 9.2 assists per game, numbers that only nine players have reached in a season, and only Denver’s Nikola Jokic has these stats so far this year.
Cunningham played in every game during last season’s 28-game losing streak. Now, he’s enjoying the fact that Detroit will be part of the postseason just a year later.
“It’s something that we had all envisioned,” Cunningham said. “As young guys, we had to find a way to climb to the top of the mountain. And we had a rough go early, as everybody can see. To stay with it, to continue to dig deep, this year has been super rewarding for all of us and we’re still super hungry.”
Cunningham is a star leader, But he’s not the only reason why Detroit is winning
Two veterans — Tobias Harris and Tim Hardaway Jr. — joined the team after last season. They are regulars in the starting lineup and have provided the experience that a team of younger players needed.
Jalen Duren, a center in his third year, is averaging a double-double and shooting 70%. Malik Beasley was 17th in the league this season for fast-break points before Monday’s game. The Pistons have kept winning even though they’ve played most of the last three months without Jaden Ivey, who scores 17 points per game and has been out with a broken leg.
At the center of everything is Bickerstaff, who was fired by Cleveland after they made it to the second round of the playoffs last year. He became the Pistons’ coach after Detroit let go of Monty Williams, who still had five years and $65 million left on his contract.
But Langdon reached out with a vision, one that owner Tom Gores clearly supports, and it didn’t take long for Bickerstaff to be interested.
“Timing was important,” Bickerstaff said. “At the time, I had been off for about a month, and I was just spending a ton of time with my family and going to soccer tournaments and all that stuff. But I was a little antsy. So, when Trajan called, I was excited just to see and explore what the opportunity may be.”
“Looking at the roster, looking at the guys that were on the team, the young guys, it was a group that I thought my skillset and personality kind of matched. And I was intrigued.”
They started 0-4. They were 9-15 in early December, 13-17 at Christmas
Then Dec. 26 came — a game at Sacramento where the Pistons were down by 19 points in the third quarter and by 10 points with 2:45 left. They won 114-113 thanks to a four-point play from Ivey with 3.1 seconds left. That win was part of a run where Detroit won 10 out of 12 games, including a victory at Madison Square Garden over New York.
By early February, Detroit was one game under .500, but then they went on an eight-game winning streak, which included a 20-point win over Boston. Just like that, the Pistons were seven games over .500. It was clear that the playoffs were within reach. While their spot isn’t officially guaranteed, it’s almost certain.
“They’re aware of where they are,” Bickerstaff said. “What I think they’ve done a really good job of is not looking ahead and missing the moments. This team has found its consistency because it approaches every day the same, whether it’s a practice day or game day. The focus is on that day, whatever our task is at hand, without looking too far ahead.”
This probably isn’t just a one-time success for Detroit. Duren is 21. Ausar Thompson is 22. Ivey is 22. Cunningham is 23. The Pistons should have some cap space to work with next summer. It’s easy to see this team being even better in a year.
The team is happy. And the best might still be ahead.
“I have 1,000% fallen in love with this group,” Bickerstaff said. “And all my focus goes into them and seeing them enhance and seeing them grow. That’s the thing that I find the most joy in.”
