The Detroit Pistons have a modest three-game winning streak after defeating the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday
Now that the Detroit Pistons have (28-9) stood in first place of the Eastern Conference for nearly two months, the NBA has had time to adjust to the dominant basketball being played in the Motor City. But even with that forewarning, the Bulls (17-20) were thoroughly unprepared for how deep the Pistons’ squad was on Wednesday night’s 15-point Detroit victory.
Playing without All-Pro point guard Cade Cunningham or probable All-Star center Jalen Duren, the Pistons turned to a dangerous, versatile third scoring option in Isaiah Stewart to lead the squad to their third consecutive win last night. Stewart performed admirably to the tune of a career-high 31 points (14-for-17 FGs) in a starring role for the defensive force jovially known as Beef Stew.
“I mean, it's him, right? It's not new. It's not different,” Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said after the win. “It's his ability and want to just do what's best for this team, and in any way shape that he can. Like, he knew we were down scoring, obviously. He got the ball in his spots and was extremely aggressive to help us put points on the board at times where we were really struggling to score the basketball. So again, it's a credit to him, his willingness to just do what's right by this team and accept any role. He's done everything for us on both ends of the floor.”
For most of the season, Stewart has earned his reputation as the league’s toughest rim-protector through violent, chest-to-chest collisions at the rim on defense. But last night, Stewart rolled hard to the bucket and was efficient in his shot selection when Detroit needed a big effort.
Typically, Stewart mans the paint on defense and makes life difficult for opposing offenses, and the Pistons’ defensive unit– once again– helped propel Detroit to another comeback victory in the second half against Chicago.
“That's the spark for us all the time,” Bickerstaff said. “Tonight was kind of ugly and uncomfortable offensively, like we couldn't really catch a rhythm, but we knew if we can get stops, we can get out in transition, we could figure out a way. And for us, it'll always come down to the defensive end of the floor. You know, that's our catalyst. It triggers our offense. It triggers the energy, the spirit of the guys. So again, I think we did a great job of figuring out how to get stops and then letting the offense come from that.”
To that effect, the Pistons made a timely surge in the third quarter to help erase the Bulls’ seven-point lead, a charge that was led by Ron Holland and Javonte Green. Working in unison, the two tenacious defenders caused turnover after turnover to help jolt Detroit’s transition offense, and the Pistons carried that momentum into an eventual 15-point victory against a division rival without the squad’s top two scoring threats.
Moving forward, the Pistons have one more day off before hosting the Los Angeles Clippers (13-23) at Little Caesars Arena on Saturday, Jan. 10.
For more information on the latest Detroit Pistons team or player news, follow @EricJRutter on X for continued basketball coverage. Also be sure to look up Roundtable - Michigan Men Media on Facebook for continued social media coverage of all the sporting teams in the Mitten.