The Detroit Pistons are chock-full of momentum after dominating the Indiana Pacers on Saturday night
With a laundry list of players on the Pacers injury report entering last night’s game against the Pistons, it was clear that Indiana was bruised, and Detroit certainly left the squad battered after a 43-point win by the home squad.
The Pistons have built their success this season on a brand of physical, principled defensive basketball, and those tenants completely overwhelmed the Pacers from the start on Saturday night. In the first quarter, Detroit quickly leapt out to a 21-2 lead, and the Pistons never looked back in what was their largest victory margin of the 2025-26 campaign.
Detroit point guard Cade Cunningham looked more comfortable after recently returning from a wrist injury, and the Pistons All-Star racked up a modest 16 point, five assist showing in the blowout win. Detroit did not need much volume from their conductor against the Pacers as Cunningham and the rest of the Pistons’ starting unit sat out the entire fourth quarter.
But before that point, the Pistons looked like a team determined to send a statement to the rest of the NBA. Both Jalen Duren and Ron Holland did their best to separate the rim from the backboard with several powerful dunks that brought the Little Caesars Arena crowd to their feet, and those plays represented a tough, in-your-face, unabashed identity of a Detroit squad that is on pace for 60 wins this season.
“What we do is not easy,” Bickerstaff said after the game. “What we ask our guys to do every single night is not easy. When you go out and you're playing against the best players in the world, to do it 82 times, to scrap as hard as our guys scrapped, to be as physical as they are, to be as connected as they are, to be as engaged in it. That's the most important thing, and that's what's so impressive about that group is every single night, and we've had our nights where it's just been an NBA night. We couldn't get it done. But for the most part, our guys give it to you every single night, and that's not easy.”
On Saturday night, the Pistons showed a lot of their personality on the court in a blowout win over their Central Division rivals. The high-fives were prevalent, Cunningham had some fun at his opponent's expense (pointing at Jay Huff after he was dunked on by Duren) and everyone on the Pistons had a chance to log at least 10 minutes in a decisive, dominant victory.
Just before the halfway mark of the regular season, the Pistons have accrued a 30-10 record and firmly hold position of first place in the Eastern Conference. Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff has preached defense as the catalyst for a dominant team that can contend with anybody in the association, and the results reinforce Bickerstaff’s tutelage.
Right now, the Pistons hold a 4.5 game lead over the Boston Celtics for first place in the East and a six-game edge over the New York Knicks.
The Pistons and Celtics are set to do battle tomorrow night in primetime at 8 pm on Peacock.
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