Detroit Pistons’ Ausar Thompson Unsatisfied After Allowing 140 Points In 2OT Win

In the aftermath of the Detroit Pistons 144-140 double overtime victory over the Washington Wizards on Thursday night, there were a number of smiling faces attached to the Motor City squad, but head coach J.B. Bickerstaff was not one of them. 

Once the game ended, Bickerstaff addressed the media and reiterated that he was not happy with the team’s performance on defense. Although Detroit was asked to play 10 extra minutes on the night, 140 points is still far more than they typically allow, so Bickerstaff saw room for improvement in that department. 

Transitioning to the team, Pistons wing Ausar Thompson logged his first triple-double during the heart-pumping victory. Along the way, AT recorded six stocks (three steals and three blocks) in the win, but even he was unsatisfied with the squad’s defensive effort against the Wizards. 

“In the first quarter, we started the game and started to struggle a little bit,” Thompson said after the game. “It’s hard for me to gauge if 140 is a lot for a double overtime game. I think it still is, so I really don’t know. We could definitely have been better guarding the bigs, protecting our bigs when they have to help the guards, controlling the ball so Trae Young can’t throw lobs to the bigs and get floaters so bigs can stay home.”

From a matchup standpoint, Thompson spent a lot of time putting the clamps on No. 1 overall pick A.J. Dybantsa, who only managed five points on the night, but the All-Defensive First Team selection also switched onto Trae Young for some point-of-attack defense frequently throughout the contest. With that level of responsibility, Thompson still found time to crash the glass with 11 rebounds, which allowed the dynamic fourth-year point forward to run the break and push the pace for Detroit. 

When Thompson is racing down the floor with the rock, the Pistons play some of their best basketball in transition, so it was important for AT to influence the fastbreak against the Wizards two nights ago, but that all starts on the glass. Since Jalen Duren has missed multiple weeks for Detroit, Thompson has taken it upon himself to be a more active and involved rebounder, which in turn helps the Pistons create some transition looks going the other way, so his impact over the past several weeks has been vital. 

Along those lines, Duren is still about a week away from being reevaluated, so look for the Pistons to continue rotating between Paul Reed and John Collins at the center spot. On top of that prominent injury concern, Detroit has been without Isaiah Joe for nearly as long as JD’s absence, so the Pistons have been without two key players during the early portion of the regular season. But despite those obstacles, the Pistons still stand in third place in the Eastern Conference with an 8-3 record so far. 

Later tonight, Detroit will square off with a Miami Heat squad that they’ve already beaten once this season. Tip-off is slated for 8 pm tonight inside the Kaseya Center in downtown Miami, but the final two meetings between both teams later this season will take place in Motown.