The Detroit Pistons came back from 22 down against the Portland Trail Blazers last night for their 4th straight win.
Winning four in a row was in my “things I want to see in 2025” for the Pistons and they checked it off before the first week of January was even over.
The win brought them to .500 for the first time this far into a season since 2018-19 and it was also the first time they’ve won four straight since the Blake Griffin era.
More importantly, the win brought them to 9-3 over the last month, the third-best record in the NBA in that span behind the red-hot Cavaliers and Thunder.
The Pistons now sit in 7th position in the Eastern Conference, just a half game out of the 6th seed and just one game away from the 5th. This team is really starting to gel and you can see their confidence growing every game.
They believe they should win.
Cade Cunningham has been a huge part of it, as he is controlling games and averaging over 27 points per contest over the last four. And when he ran out of gas last night, other teammates picked him up, which is one of the big themes of this recent run and one of the things I love about this team.
Next man up mentality
The Pistons have been submarined by injuries over the last five seasons, some real, some when they were trying to tank down the stretch.
Remember saying things like, “just wait until Bogdanovic gets back!” while we waited for players to return, hoping it would matter. It never did.
This season, the Pistons are embracing that next man up mentality, even after losing starting two-guard Jaden Ivey.
It’s been a different guy behind Cade Cunningham every night, whether it’s Tobias Harris having a big game, Tim Hardaway Jr. or Ausar Thompson.
Without Thompson last night, it was Ron Holland II who played a big role, which makes this team hard to stop. We know Cade is going to lead the way, but beyond that, the #2 guy could be anyone.
Coach JB Bickerstaff has been pushing all of the right buttons. Even last night, with Malik Beasley completely broke and having missed his first 10 shots, Bickerstaff seemed to have a sense that he was due and put Beasley back into the game for him to hit a crucial 3-pointer that sealed it for Detroit.
From the coach down, it’s been a team effort and I love that.
Unsung Heroes
In addition to someone filling Ivey’s shoes when it comes to scoring, there has been a player or two in each of these last four games who stepped up and made winning plays that might not show up in the box score.
Marcus Sasser only played 15 minutes last night and had four points, but he was huge on both ends. He came up with a block and a steal, three rebounds, five assists and didn’t turn it over. He helped change the momentum of the game on both ends even though he only made one of his six shots.
Same with Ron Holland II, who only had eight points, but whose energy changed the momentum of the game more than once. He came up with two steals and when Holland gets as steal you better believe he’s taking it to the rack, which he did.
Simone Fontecchio hit some huge shots last night (finally) and I loved the defensive energy of Paul Reed and Wendell Moore Jr. in their short run.
There’s no pouting about minutes on this team and every guy who steps in tries to do his job. I really enjoy watching this bench play even when they aren’t scoring much.
JB Bickerstaff and his roles
The Pistons development of young players has stalled in the past for many reasons, including that the young players never had defined roles and never had to earn minutes.
That is not the case with Bickerstaff, who knows exactly what he wants from every player who steps on the floor. He’s not asking players to do things they can’t do, but instead has each of them playing to their strengths.
He’s kept the young guys in bench roles that have kept them from getting exposed. He’s plugged in guys like Holland and Reed for a boost of energy and each veteran has a very defined role.
Bickerstaff has been a big part of this turnaround and deserves credit for understanding his team and how best to deploy them.
Defense
The Pistons’ defense had slipped to 19th in the NBA in defensive rating even though their offense was clicking.
But during this 4-game streak, they’ve had a defensive rating of 104.7, which has brought them all the way up to 13th in the NBA, a huge improvement from last season and the reason this team is starting to roll.
The Pistons feed off their defense and have guys who attack in transition, so if they get stops and steals, they get easier looks and usually points.
Even without steal-machine Ausar Thompson last night, Detroit came up with nine steals and scored 26 points off turnovers.
The Pistons take on Brooklyn on Wednesday to try and win their 5th straight and you can feel the team and fanbase starting to believe that this isn’t just a play-in team but one that could make the playoffs.