Detroit Pistons: Bickerstaff Commends Daniss Jenkins For Sparking 11-Point Win Over Wizards

For the first time since losing Jalen Duren to a right hamstring strain, the Detroit Pistons came out last night with John Collins at the five against the Washington Wizards, which bumped Paul Reed to the bench for that night. 

In lieu of that lineup shift, Daniss Jenkins earned a start in the backcourt next to Cade Cunningham, and the Pistons leapt out to a fast start with Collins heavily involved in the team’s offense. Collins, who slammed numerous lobs through the rim, posted 24 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, two steals and one blocks in Detroit’s 122-111 win over the Washington Wizards on Monday night. 

Playing on the tail end of a back-to-back, the Pistons hoped that moving Jenkins into the starting five would pay dividends given his career-high 31-point outing against the Los Angeles Lakers the prior night. 

”I think DJ has earned more with the way that he’s sparked us coming off the bench,” Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said after the game. “We’ve talked about our starts and how we thought we could improve those starts. Matchups dictated some of that also, being able to have him go up against Trae Young then put AT on AJ [Dybantsa], I thought that matchup would be good for us as well.”

With that added responsibility on his plate, Jenkins rose to the occasion with another robust effort and posted 22 points, six rebounds, eight assists and four steals to help push the Pistons to 7-3 on the year. With Jenkins working alongside Cunningham for much of the game, Detroit has the luxury of utilizing multiple ball handlers on the floor at once, and the Pistons offense operated smoothly with their All-NBA First-Teamer in an off-ball format as well. 

But once the Pistons took their 10-point lead into the third quarter, Cunningham found himself in a world of foul trouble with five personals to his name midway through the frame. Jenkins guided the team into the fourth before rookie Ebuka Okorie had an opportunity to flash his skills for a brief five-point, six-minute stint, but Cunningham came back to close out the win. 

Bouncing back to Collins, the Detroit big man played a crucial role in the Pistons’ ability to sustain that prolonged absence without Cunningham in the game during the second half. 

”He was involved, and I think that’s the most important thing for him,” Bickerstaff said. “That’s what we’re trying to find that balance when he’s at the four versus the five, how we still get him involved in some of the actions. Throughout his career, when he’s been in the pick-and-roll situation, he’s really good at playing in that pocket and finishing, and then obviously he has the capability of knocking down shots.”

After the game, Bickerstaff was non-committal about whether Collins or Reed would start at the five moving forward, but the experiment worked well against the Wizards. However, one byproduct of Collins at center was that Tolu Smith was effectively phased out of the lineup for the game as one of two Pistons to log a DNP in the victory. 

Right now, the Pistons have a couple days off to regroup before facing the same Washington squad in their arena on Thursday, Nov. 12 at 7 pm.