JB Bickerstaff lured into same crucial mistake from last year

The Detroit Pistons had a tough night on offense in game one against Orlando, which caused JB Bickerstaff to make the same mistake he made last season, which was not playing Ausar Thompson enough. 

The Pistons did struggle to score, especially early on, as they looked out of sync after having a week off. That’s not an excuse, especially when the effort wasn’t always there. The Pistons learned the hard way that you can’t just show up in the playoffs and expect to win. 

Detroit shot just 40 percent on the night overall and 31 percent from long range, as the Magic effectively took them out of their game, keeping them out of the lane all night. 

The Pistons were outscored by 20 in points in the paint, which is not a battle they can lose and expect to go far in the playoffs. 

All of that left JB Bickerstaff desperately looking for offense and shot creation, which led to Ausar Thompson sitting for most of the second half, a mistake we cannot see again. 

Ausar Thompson has to play or the Pistons will lose 

Thompson played just nine minutes in the second half, and the Pistons were +2 in those minutes, but that didn’t keep him on the floor. 

To be fair, Thompson has had problems finishing at the rim and did have a couple of bad turnovers, but he also had seven rebounds (three of them offensive) and three steals to go along with his eight points. 

He was the spark of every run the Pistons had in the game, getting his hands on everything and forcing steals. Even one of Javonte Green’s steals (Javonte should have played more too) was due to Thompson. 

It’s not a coincidence that the man Thompson was marking most of the night (Desmond Bane) shot just 7-of-20 from the floor. 

Of course, that all changed in the second half, especially in the 4th quarter, when the Magic immediately went on a run and the Pistons couldn’t get a stop, all with Ausar watching from the bench. 

I’ve been saying all season that Thompson is the Pistons’ second-most important player, so he needs to be in there more than 25 minutes per game. At one point last night, the Pistons went on a 10-0 run only to have coach Bickerstaff pull Thompson and Cade Cunningham out of the game, and Detroit immediately gave it all back. 

The Pistons feed off their defense and given how difficult it was to get a shot off in the half court, they need Thompson in there creating chaos and opportunities in transition. 

Coach Bickerstaff made the mistake of seeking offense by taking Ausar out last season and is already making the same crucial mistake in this one. 

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