The Pistons Are Faltering
The Detroit Pistons were dominated in the franchise's biggest game in years.
The Detroit Pistons just played in the franchise’s most important game since the team’s last playoff appearance in 2019.
And, naturally, they laid a gigantic egg.
Detroit was flat-out embarrassed by the Milwaukee Bucks, 128-107.
The Pistons had to win the game or lose the game by less than five points for a chance to advance in the Emirates NBA Cup — the NBA’s In-Season Tournament. Instead, the Bucks connected on 23 three-pointers en route to a win that advanced Milwaukee to the tournament's Knockout Round.
"They’ve got good shooters on the floor. We made mistakes in coverages that opened up some of the open looks for them,” J.B. Bickerstaff said postgame. “We gave up too many catch-and-shoot 3s. Just too many mistakes in coverages."
It was disappointing to see the Pistons play so poorly in such a huge moment — a moment the team publicly acknowledged meant so much.
No, the Emirates Cup is not the NBA Playoffs. However, due to the financial stipulations attached to winning the Cup, the games are more intense than regular-season games.
The lights got bright and the Pistons turned into vampires.
While the officiating throughout the game was unsettling at best, a better whistle would not have changed the game's final results. The Pistons simply needed to play better. Milwaukee jumped ahead and never looked back.
Defensively, Detroit was out of sorts. The Bucks were gifted open perimeter shots time after time. Milwaukee shot 56% from the field and the 3-point line. They made all the open shots the Pistons gifted them.
Had the Pistons competed, but lost in a close, competitive contest, there would be no complaints on the outcome. The Bucks are trending in the right direction after a slow start to the new season. They have won nine of their last ten games. Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard are the two best players between the two teams. Milwaukee has championship experience and veteran leadership.
Milwaukee was expected to win — but Detroit failed to put up any sort of fight en route to their defeat.
As the Bucks continued to make shots, the Pistons rolled over and never made any sort of surge in a comeback effort.
There is no rest for Detroit. They traveled overnight to Boston to face the defending champion Celtics.
The season will continue, with no time to reflect on what took place Tuesday night. The Pistons simply have to move on at this point, but that doesn’t make the loss to Milwaukee any less unacceptable than it is.
Detroit has fallen to 11th in the Eastern Conference – on the outside looking in at a playoff spot. Looking ahead at their schedule, the competition is about to pick up.
They will play Boston twice — with a game against the Knicks sandwiched in between. Before the end of the calendar year, the Pistons will face the Heat, Suns, Lakers, Kings, and Nuggets.
We will see if the Pistons can keep their competitive style of play afloat during a difficult stretch in their schedule. But after a pair of blowout losses, momentum is trending in the wrong direction.