The game that changed everything for the Detroit Pistons this season

The Detroit Pistons have secured at least a .500 record and are one win away from tripling their win total from last season. 

To call this a turnaround is an understatement, as the Pistons have a chance to have the biggest one-season improvement in NBA history. 

There have been plenty of special moments along the way in a season which will hopefully be remembered as the one that launched the Pistons towards sustainable winning and contending for championships. 

But one in particular stands out, and you have to go all the way back to November 12th, 2024, when the Pistons were just 4-7 and playing against the Heat in the NBA Cup. 

After blowing a chance for an easy win because of copious turnovers, the game went into overtime and it looked as if the Pistons were doomed, down two with less than two seconds remaining. 

And then this happened: 

It has to be the wildest finish to a game this season, as it not only featured an unbelievable in-bounds play (more on that in a second) but a rare mental blunder from coach Erik Spoelstra, who called a timeout they didn’t have, which cost his team a technical free-throw and ultimately the game. 

That ending created a now-famous Jalen Rose meme and possibly the strangest part was that the Pistons allowed Malik Beasley, who is one of their worst free-throw shooters, to take the shot, which he buried. 

It was a remarkable victory that set the tone for the season. 

It wasn’t like the Pistons took off after this win, but a couple of things became abundantly clear. 

These aren’t the same Detroit Pistons 

All I kept thinking after that win (which was also the point my neighbor started hating me), was that it was the exact type of game the Pistons have been losing for years. 

Even when the Pistons were terrible, they still played plenty of close games and always found a way to lose them, so it was nice to see one go the other way for once. 

You could see the confidence start to build for the Pistons during the NBA Cup and this game showed they could hang with one of the gatekeepers of the Eastern Conference, and not only stay close, but win. 

Miami has since fallen off the map, partially due to another incredible game recently in which Cade stuck a dagger in their heart, but it was the win back on November 12 that set the stage for both teams. 

It was clear the Pistons had upgraded at coach 

The play call by JB Bickerstaff was brilliant, as he used Beasley (who everyone thought was taking that shot) as a decoy. Beasley set a sneaky screen for Duren, who got the lob while Miami stood around. 

This play never happens if Monty Williams was still the coach. 

One of the underrated parts of coach Bickerstaff this season has been his ability to get the Pistons good looks out of timeouts and in-bounds plays, which he has done all season. 

Bickerstaff has brought more organization, discipline and simple X’s and O’s that just weren’t present last year when the Pistons never looked like they had a plan. 

You can point to a lot of moments that changed the season for the Pistons, but this one sticks out to me as the one in which we knew that things had started to shift in Detroit.